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guitaristandmastermind Billy Gibbonsis a compul-
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sive shopper.Late one recent Hollywood night he could
be foundprowlingthe aislesof the Virgrn Megastoreon SunsetBoulevard,moving
stealthilylike someAfrican tribal huntsman,albeitonewith a longgreybeard,
strangetufted hat,natty blacksuit,ample silverwrist jewelry anda white shirt accentuatingthe night-owlpallor of that smallportion of his faceleft visible by his legendarychin warmer andbizarreheadgear. The GreatWhite Hunter!He swoopsdownthe aisles,deftlypicksthroughstacksof CDs andextractsthe discsthat capturehis fancy:a collectionofcuts by Fifties steelguitar legendSpeedyWest,someLos Lobosalbumsto prepare for a jam with the famed L.A. band at the Latin Grammys,and a worldbeat compilationfor the missus,the comelyactressGilligan,who is ap-
proximatelyhalf nilly's age."Shegoescrazyfor this stuff" he confides. the pastfour decades. "He'sgot a lot ofvaried interests.lfyou're involvedin someventure he'silrto,you reallyget into it." Everybody knows that ZZ Top are or'e ol the greatestthingseverto springfrom the Texasmud,but fewer peopleget the Holb.woodconnection.Billy's dad,Fred,was a soundtrackmusicianand composerfor MGM duringthe Thirties.His uncleCedricis one of the mostcelebratedcinematicart directorsof Hollyr oods ColdenAge.ln facr.Billyinherited the family mansein the Holl)'woodHills. The adobe-styledwelling is brimmingwith furtherartiFacts of Billys manialor shopping. Museum-qualitypiecesfrom his world-c1ass collectionofAfrican art adornthe rooms.A numberof vintageautomobiles,all ofthem Billy's knowledgeoffilm is asencyclopedic black,areparkedout front. And, ofcourse, ashis commandofmusical idiomsboth high there areguitarsand ampseverl'lvhere-rare and low Just namea cinematicgenrervintage ones,ne$ ones,theueird andthe wonderHolly,,vood,Italian neorealism,Sixtieskitsch, ful: a Billy Bo cretsch Jupiterbasedon an ax Asianslasherflicks...Bill]' can namedirectorc, givento Billyby rock and roll legendBo Didcinematographers, minor actorsand actresses, dley,abrand-newblackJB Teleadomedwith He possesses ahighly retentiveandwildly assparklingjewels,a few pawnshopspecials, sociativemind that seemsto requireconstant threeWatkinsDominatorampsofdifferent songormovierirle\vill nigvintagesand a MarshallBluesbreaker in red"rimulrlion.One ger an avalancheofrelated titles in his fevered orangeTolex. brain.He scurriesoffto track them down. There'sevenmorestuff at Billy's house The uniquelyconfrgured,hyperactivemind in Eouston,the cityin which he wasbom. ofBilly F' Gibbonsis the enginethatdrives Hou.ionis alsothe sireof ZZ Tops fecordZZ Top,that Little Ol' BluesBandfrom Texas, ingstudio,FoamBox,and eightwarehouses now in its 38th year ofoperationand likely to containingthe bulk ofBilly's African art colkeepon running infrnitely,thanksto the caflection,hundredsofguitars,amps,effectsand feinrted Energizerbunnythatresidesin the Lord kno$.swhat else.Billy divideshis time curiouslyadornednogginolBilly F.cibbons. betweenthe L.A. and Houstonresidences "Billy's an interestinggry," saysDustyHill, aswell asvariousother locales.No one fully ZZ Top'sbassistand Cibbons'bandmatefor understandsthe comingsandgoingsofBilly n
For n1ehe selectsa CD by countrystar Brad Paisley,a new friend ofBilly's, wl,om he ratespretty highly asaguitarist.Next,Mr. Gibbonsrootsthroughthe bargainbin,commentingauthoritatilely on tackybut obscure discotracksthat maybehe oughtnot admit to knowing sowell. Then it's on to the DVD racks.Billy's cravingsomefilm noir tonight, that ominous,black-and-white,g-movie genre,filled u'ith razor-sharpkillers,dangerousgun molls and other desperatecharacters f f o mt h ef r i n g eosf n i d 2 o r h c e n r u r y A m e r i can society.Billy digsand digs,growingvisibly frustrrted.He can't find one he hasn'talready seen,but he doespresentme with a copyof DillinSer,quite possiblytheonly film noirl're
Gibbons.That'sone ofthe rules. The HoustonBilly is the one everybody knows:the deep-talkin'Texanwith a passion for barbecue,roadhouses, mud-flapgalsand stockcarracetracks.But Billy's Holl)'\ 'ood flair is everybit ascrucial to ZZ Top'sidentity and longevityasthe group'sdeepTexasblues roots.His penchantfor showmanshipand sharpeyefor visuals(ageneticlegacyfrom UncleCedric,perhaps)hasenabledhim to reinventthebandfor eachsucceedingera. Any one humanbeing'sconceptionofZZ Top dependsheavilyon the decadeinwhich rharpaflicularhumanbeingmadethe passagethrough adolescence into adulthood.For thosewho cameup inthe seventies,zZ Top arethe ultimate beer-drinkin',hell-raisin', good-timin',ass-kickin'party band.This is the ZZ Top of "T\tsh:' "La Grange,""Whiskey'n Mama" and "Enjoy and Get It On."For Eightiesfans,rheyre oneofthe mostubiquirous. albeirunlikely.icon.ofthe MTV era.rhree sharp-dressed menwith a soundasgleaming and streamlinedasthe customhot rods and curvaceouscutiesseenin the video clips for "GimmieAll Your Lovin',""Legs" and "Sharp In the Ninetiesand beyond,ZZ Top rcturned to their rootsand emergedascurious curatorsofthe blueslegacy.Beardedbarrelhousegurus,serni-m1thicalcharacters,they cameto remind us that rock and roll ain't nothin' but the bastardoffspringofthe blues and hillbiJlymusic.This is the group that = broughrus"My Herds in Mississippi.-Fuzz- ; bo),Voodoo.-PokeChopSandwichrnd "Buck Nekkid."Blesstheir grizzledbeards.
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t ( ; i b b o n s .E \ c l : \ n o r c i s s t e e p c di r t h c r i c h A m e f i c . r nr r u s i r . r lh c f i t x g e r h . B i l l ) . r [ r s o r b c d g r - o w i r l i L r pi n l l o L r s t o r il n r h e F i f t i e s .S o m e o f I i . , . r l . . r ' . r . . . , 1r ' . r ' , , , - . , . . , ro\' r l r - . r i v e r s cs o u n d sc o n r i n g o u t o f t h e l e c l i o ,r ! h . r r w e s rusic.' n o r i .c a l l ' L - o o t n " T h e l a v l i t c c h a n n e l so n t h c d i a l , " B i l h r ' r 1 . , . c c . r . . lr , 'n , . l ' , R 8 B , r 1 l . o n . R \ ( r K :ll1.l KCOH th!rr pl.rycd all thc blues ],ou could Llsernd ilso colrntn'irrcl $estclrl tf:rcLs ol t h e d r y , b . r c kl h c n H a n l ( \ V i l l i a m s r e i g r c d k i D g .I n t l r o s er e d i o o f f c l i n g s .o n e c o ! l d h c a r t h c c r o s s o v e re l e n r e n t st h r t l c d t o r h e L r i r l h( ) f r ' o c k. r n d l o l l : t h c b l u e s n i e c t i r l gc o l u r t r \ ' ,n r e c t i r g h i l l b i l l l . u d l l r c n b l L l e ! !r s s x l l o f t h i s * . i l c l , n o n l c g i t i m l t c n r u s i c .r h e . r r . t f e l tm, o r c . . r i r L i r. l , r i , . r ( , . r | j . . i , . f 1 f ( . r i i 1 r r t h c r p r i m i l i \ ' e v r c r t l l r r t u b e s t a t cb r c k t h e n . s o \ ' o u c o L r l dt L r r nr h r n r u p l o u d ; r n dg e t b c a u tifullich clistoltion Bilhrs drd hrd movetl or hom Holl\1vooll's s t l d i ( ) o r c h c s r s t o h e c o m eI c o l d u c t o l o f t h e H o l r s t o r lS \ m } r h ( m \ (' h c h e s t r . ::rr n dh i g h s o c i c t \ b x n L l l e i d e rB . u t t s i l h s n r u s i c r le d o c l t i u l coDtinucd on .l|r entifcl! diftircnt tl11ck.rt rge seler. rhcn a lcchlcss h.rb)sittef Lregrnto bring \ ( ) u n g n r r s t e r\ \ J i l l i i l n r n d h i s l i | e r c . l l . o l L ls i s ter out () thc locil lloLrsto]l Iightspors, \1'her.e tbe tirtLrrclc.rdcr ofZZ Top got his fifst tilsre of l i \ e h l u e sr n d R & B D r L r s i cp,l . r ! e di n t h c s n o k \ ' rii\'cs thet .rl e the p|opcr crlr.iloDnrent ofrhese mLrsic.rljtliorrs. The ne\t ln.ljor tu ring poirlt o c c u r r c i lo n ( l h r i s n r r r sr r o | n i n g o f 1 9 6 2 . -
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14
G U I T I IT E G E I I D S
' ' I g o t 1 n \ 'f i f s t uuitrf on Cbristlnrs d:rl, s h o f t l y N i t c r l l l r L r f n e d1 : , " B i l l y s x ) s . ' t t " r ' . ' . i t : 1 , i k . r , ' . i n 1 l -, c Lr . r r r r , . l son N,Ielod) N1llker,\{ ith :r leDdef Ch|lnp anrp- I in netli.rtely. r'ctired to ln\' r-ooIn rnd l e a r n c r lh o s t o p l r l t h c i n t r o f i g u l e f l o m R l ' C h . r r l es " W h : r t ' d I S x \ ' . a n c lb y s L r n r l o ln I h a d st:rrled leelnirg thc signirture Jjlnl11! Reed rhvthnr lines."
HAllGlll' WlTllllEll0RlXr I.IFE BETORE ZZT|lP
Bilh pl$ ed in u \'ar'icnofjuniol high .rnd h i g h s c h o o lr o c k b r n r l s d u r i n g t h r t g o l d e n t r I - r , r , . , r ' ' \ r ' o rc , . . . , t , | ' | rr ' r " r glrrges rnd brLScmentsacross r\n1efic.r, linock i n g t o g e t h e l t h c i l o w n l o L r g l rt : r l { co n r h e B r i t i s h l n l a s i o n s o u n d so l g r o u p s l i k c t h c R o l l i n g S t o n e s ,K i n l i s r n d \ h r L l b i f d s .I l u t h i s f i r s t l i r l l \ . p f o f t s s i o r r r l r c t \ \ ' . r st h c N , I o y i n gS i d e $ . r l K sl, p s l c h c r t c l i ch l L r e so L r t E tp L r i t c r n c d: r f t e fT e x r s ' c e l e b r . i t e l .1l 3 t hl . l o o f E 1 e ! r t o r s . I ' h c l a t c S i x t i e s h . r d i r r i v c d . H i p t i e . l o u r u . , r st l k i n g h o l d . ' ' T h er e N r r s t b i s b i g h o L r s ci n I l o u s t o n c a l l c d t h e L o r r i s i r n r h o u s c , ' B i l l r f c c : r l l s ." I r $ rs rhis girrlt. bcauriilrl ttl:tls tlrarlsion. .rnci i t b e c l l 1 1 et h c b i g h i p p i c h o L L s ier t o \ \ n . T h c r c \ \ . e r cl i t t l o c u L ) i c l e tsh t l t b e c r l n c l o o n r s t o l i r e in. t he Elc\.itors li|ed therc. $rc nn)\'cd irT h e R e d C f r ! o l . r , e n o t h c I r ' e n r r l . k . r L rpl cs l c h c dclic brnd, lired thcrc too.Thosc guvs $ ere r u t i s t so l r l l s o r t s .\ " i s Llrl . u t i s t s .T h o h o L r s c r ' . r s a l c r l i n t e l e s t i n gk i n d o f l t i s r i c e r c l . r l e .
Ir \\rs not fcsiricted tojust lnrisicitnsithcr-c ! 1 r < i - l r ( . 1 , u f ; r . . . . r l r : i r. 1 .^ ' y r r p l e B i l 1 1h, i m s e l f h . r d c o n s i d c r - e dr c a l e e l i n thc visuxl afts shortly xficI high school. 'I h a d c n l o l l e d i n . r r t c o l l e g el n d r h c n r r ' e n tu f to ALrstiDto go to the Uni\'ersit! of fcxas to s t u d \ e r t , " h e s r ! s . ' B u t t h e m L L s i c$ ' r s I s t r o n lier cnll at th:rt tilne. It was cithcr- one oI the o t h c r , : r n d I c h o s el n L r s i c.,t l t h o u g hI k c p t o n s , i t h l n ) i r t f i x a t i o n .t h i s n e v e f e n d i n g q L r c s t r o f i g u r e o L r th o \ t o d r i l \ f r l i D e l i o l r p o i n t A rotoint B.' tsut ihc :rrt school religee soon fourti rva|s to nanifest his bizrlle lisLlrl sersibilities t h r o l r g h m L r s i cg c a r :B i l l , , s m r n i r f o l t h e r i l t l c u s t o n r i z i r r go l g u i t . r r s( l a t c sb a c l i r o h i \ N l o \ i n g s i d c l r l h s d : r ' s . E v i d c n c co i t h i s c r n b c l o u n r l i n h i s l c c c n t c o l l e e t . r b l cb o o k , l t o c l , n n d R o l l c c d r l e d d . O n p i g c 1 5 2 ,\ r ' e f i n d | r p h o t o o f : r s t n n g e , s q u r l e b o d i c d c u s t o mj o b l i n c d s . i t h p i r k f u r ; $ c f o r e L r e . rol f t h e r r c l l k n o l l 'fop tilzzy gLritrrs fionr ZZ s \'ITV efr t\yo ' ' I w : r s| r l \ \ rvs i big frr of Bo Dilldlc\'. s:rvs B i l l l : A n d i f l o u l o o k c l o s c l r r r rt h c c o r c r pho|og-r'rph on thc LP cntitleLl &) ,Did.//c-yls .l Iofrr. |rs he sits on rhe floor', hc s got his i:,n o l r s r c c t i n g u l : r r ( ] r ' e t s c ho n o n c s i d c : r n d o n r h e o t h c r s i i l c t h c r c s i s i n g l e - c u t r $r \ C ; i b s o n L e s P r u l . I r .t h r t \ r s c o v e r - c Li n1 s h : r gg l e l c r r ' p c t i n g . T h i s \ \ ' . r st f u l v t h e i n s p i r r t i o n t o c m L r l . t t e t h a t h i n d o f c l e z v g u i t r l c l L r l t .q , l r i c b i d i d o n r b u t c h c l c c lT c l e c r s r e r ,r i d c d r n d r s s i r t c d
peting.This wastrulythe inspirationto emu latethat kind ofcrazy guitar craft,which I did on o butcheredTelecaster, aidedaId r\.ilred byD.n Summers,the bassplayerforthe MovingSidewalks.He wasalsoquite talentedas a craftsnan in glitar building only in those drys.it wasn\ somuchguirarbuildingr" guitar aberration.we learnedhow to ruin quite a few guitarsreal quick. ''BurMr. Summers helpedbringrhoseearly customguitar ideasinto reality,evengoingon to createthe first spinningguitar He deviseda spinningdevicethat he addedto his FlyingV bassduring the MovingSidewalks'tour with Jimi Hendrix. There were a coupleofmomentsin the setwherewe turned D.n loosc. Ofcourse,he had to unplughis bassto avoid gertingthepatchcordtangledup whenthe in wasyearsbefore strument$ asspinning.lThir wireless,of coursef, B]utit was sucha magnetic visualthing. Dn Summemloanedhis talents yearslarerro the ZZ Topspinningfurry gui tars.Sowhat goesaroundcomesaround." 'It wasunspoken but quireevidentrhr Hendrixrhrewcaurionro rhewinds. Bill) notes,"and decidedto do thingsto and with a guitar that were not necessarilyrvrittenin aly ofthe how-to books.For instance,itwas considereda no no to chain two truzz-Tones together.But I sawHendrix chain five ofthen rogerherlAndhe d do thispersonalized dance. stompingor five differ€ntpedals,sometimes playingwith all five ofthen on at once-I think it's fair to give hin1the awardforbreaking the rules and startingto do thingsthat no one dareddo before.Thatwasp tofhisgenius:a total lack of fear."
ETIEIPEIRTY GATES: TIIEEIRIII|lTzzIOP
By the start ofl969, the reverb-drenched, combo-organenhanced,earlypsychedelic soundofthe MovingSidewalkshad beenall but totallyeclipsed by the hervierpower-rrio vibe initiatedby $oups liLe the Jimi Herdrix Experience,Creamand Blue Cheer Around this time, which coincidedwith the United States'escalationofthe vietnamwar, the Sidewalks'bassist and organistwere drafted into the army.This left Billy free to pursuehis drearr offorming his own powertrio. And so ZZ Top were born.The original incarnationfeaturedBilly,Movi[g Sidewrlks'drummer Dan Mitchell and l-anier creg on bass.This lineuprecordedone stngle,"salt Lick,"backedwith "Miller'sFarm." It was okay,but things didn't rexlly gel untrl the drummerFrankBeardand bassistDustv Hill fell irto place asth€ ZZ Top rhythm sectionthat would reiglrsupremefor the next four decades. Hill :nd Berrdl-:d playedtogefherin rherr r .e r i c aB o u n p s y c h e d d i c b l u e s o r rA5m 'llues. which releasedt,'roalbuns:,4mericdnBIues Do TIEir Thi1g andAtntericatl BluesIs Here "Thereweresongtitleslike'Chocolate Ego';' Hill says,laughing."Youget the idea.Also,I'd playedu.ith FreddieKing on and ofl I played at the Fillmore in Sanfrancisco for two weeks 1tn I feoole.lkr
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r h e b i l l . a l o n g $ i rt hs u d dc\ u ) . B ' u e C l - e e l and Electricflag [d Sij(tiesact thatfeatured
guitaristMike Bloonlfeldandfuture Hendrrx collabordtorBLtddyMil es.l" Clearly,Dustyand Frankwer-ea seasoned rh)'thm sectjonbythe tinre theyjoined forces with cibbons."Billy's bandopenedfor Hendrix," saysDusty.'AmericanBluesopenedfor (he Animalsand Hermans Hermirs.I[ Iacr ue hrd r litrleparryw.rh Herrnans Hermir. afterth€ show.Youcan imagine.It didn't go on all dght long.well, at least nobodyhit anybody.I think it brokeup just in time." "l don't think they were the partiersthat we wer-e," Beardadds. BeardjoinedZZ Top first and then brought Hill into the picture.Dusty beat out a bunch of other potentiel b|lssists.His audition quickly morphedfrom a try-out to a joyous,hourJongjam on a bluesshuffle.It's one ofthe legendrryepisodes in ZZ Top lore. "Dusty and I kn€w each other'stricks,"Beardexplains."so auton'uticallyhis auditionsoundedfour times beiter than th€ other bass playerswe were auditio Dg. I reallywantedDustyin the band.Sowhen the other bass playerswere up th€re,I made sureit wasplentylame.When Dustygot up there,we knew all theselittle punchesand kickswe could do togetherrt certainpoi[ts. And itwas like, 'Wowl Oh man!'"
its richnessofto[e might be the result ofthat combinarion ofg!itar andamplilier.Sorhe questwasto go lind r Les Paulsunburstand a Marshallamplifier" Billl'got the g:uitarfirst a 1959sunburst cibson LesPaulthat haspassedinto legend under the namePearlycates.There are many m)-thsasto where Billy obtainedPearll',the most promine[t beingthat the guitar was found under a bed.Billy will admit to paying$250for the guitar,an incredible dealwhe[ l'ou consider not only what the instrument is worth today but alsothe staggering amountofgood useBilly hasgottenout ofPearlyon everyZZ Top albuF from the very first to the most
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consid-ered. "Out ofthe 1,750or so a no-no to sunburst Les Paulsmade ehain two betweer1958 and'60, althougheachhasits own X'uzz-Tones stylized personalitycharyet to 6nd acteristics,I've together. one that is not rip-roarin' Billy declares. But f saw groow," "They're all wicked.But Hend.ri-x Pearlyremainsthe queen. shewasjust made chain five Iongress the right dan with the right pieceofwood, right of then amountofpaint,right amountofwrapping on together ! " the pickup.I cal1always
- Gibbons
Nearlv as important as findingthe right rh).thm section even more some might say was linding the right gritar rig to bring that raw, munchy ZZ Top sound to life. In the Moving Sidewalks, Billy had used nainly Strats and Teles through American-made Vox Super Beatle amps. Now he was after a heavier sound and had decided hejust had to have a Les Paul and a Marshall. In 1969,n'dnd you, this was far from being the stand d gear coffiguratiol it is today. Marshall amps were brand new in the states, and glitarists were j u - t b e g i n n i r g l o r e c o g n i z er h e r r l u e o f t h e Les Paul as rwerpon ofrock destruction. -Thc rnr'tique o'the 'u rbursrLes Prul. Billy explains, "was frrst ignited by Keith Richards, who had what is thought to be the first sunburst that made the London scene. You've probably seell pictures ofKeith Richa r d s b u r s r w i r h a B i g s b y .W h a t r n a k e sr h r L instrument intri€iuingis that you also see photographs ofit being played bt' Jimmy Page, Mick Jagger,Brian Jones aryl JeffBeck. so it must have been passed around a bit. But what reallygot me excited about the sunburst Les Palrl was the back cover ofthe first Johr Mayall and the Bluesbreakers LP lreledsed in 19651,the'Beano'album lBlues Breakers with Eric Claptonl. There we see Eric Clnpton with a Les Paul and a Marshall combo amp in the background. And imnrediately those who could put two and two together began to susp€ct that this wonderful gritar sound |lnd
rely on Pearlyto makethe amp stmd up and bark. Pearlyis sucha powelhouse,high output instrument.lt will kick the preamp'sbutt. And when the preampbarks, the ampwill follow." With his covetedsunburstLes Paulir hand,Billy set aboutacquiringtheamp ofhis dreams.The magicwizard who madethis wish cometrue was noneother than JeffBeck. Or more accurately,JeffBeck'sroadie. Fellow hot rod enthusiastsand guitar aces both, cibbons and El Beckobondedon one of Beck'svery Iirst U.S.tours. 'Jeffstoppedat Houstonfor a show,and I had the opportunityto hangout with lTim a little," Billy recalls.'AndI was fascinatedby thesegiant,t: l amplifiershe had,theseM:rrshalll00-watt rigs.It wasthe SuperLead1OO, modelnumber1968.And it was Jeff'sroadie who hada friendshipwith Jim Marshalland had a way to buy Marshallscheapand get'em into the States.Interestinglyenough,we used rhe.anreMrr.holl rig for Dusq . ba\. playing. The wealth ofgrind that thosermps offered workedjust aswell for bassasfor guitar.So we had two identicalamp stacks,both being guitar rigs,lhatwe usedfor guitar and bass. Theywere purchasedfor $80o U.S.,delivered. And they didn't requiretr'ansformervoltage powef supp]ies.The]' were someofthe first mrde ior U.S.I lo-volr\4rr.hl l.. Wehoughl tlvo andvertrquicklyreorderedtlvo more.One is good,more is better "Thoseampsplayeda big role in how to soh-ethe trio puzzle:how to makethree sound
suddenl_vbecamercrl wide, no holds barred ,rnd all holes filled. It was great for us, because we LliLln'l hrve to hire sidclnen; $,c kept the band three. It wrs:r lot nlore.rffordable. Fcrler
IHEt01t00ltYEARS, PIISE0ltE (t970-72)r llllcl(DIGS'EMl B,vno\r,.ZZ Top w€r'e srlrtiDlito ath act attention. Their nanegcr, tsill Ham, seculed thcm a deal rvith London Records. Thc li'uvs were delighicd to be on the srme record label rs the Rollirlg Stoncs. Thcy plonr ptl,r,ho led up in a small Texas lecordins- frcilit].. Robin Hooll t s - " r : . I d i o . , . r r d l . r o c l e J o u r rl r e r lJ r l ' r r t disc, aptly naned ZZ ?op'.sar7-stAlbun and r e l e r s e c il n 1 9 7 0 . "\,Verrtenptcd to crcatc matefialwfirte b _ \t .h e t h f e e o f L L su, i t h n o i d e a o f r r h c l c i t rvoukl go,'Bill_v sa!s. "l rha! vou herr is \r'hat ) ^ L rg ( t . l l r . r u r , , , f . l r . r rr . c " - d i . , n t e . l i r E i that \r,e \r,ere merel) Lrpstart cop\.ists attempt. r . r ' . l r . r " r r o u r r e - . i on n i t h c 1 l-u < . .i u r frled \{ith \\'hat we thought $'ould sound like I(eith,lleck, Pagc,Clapton, N,IickTiylor, Peter G r e e n . . . t h o s keu ) s . C l r o r v i D g u pF. r a n k a n d Dust_vhrd listened to the senlc ridio stntions I J i J : I r , l r , - r i . \ r , t r t i on o . r ro l N u . \ , i l L WLAC, end the samc Mcxican border blasters. S o u e h a d a s h a r ' e de x p e r i e n c cf r o m t h e s t a r t thai r.:rs able to be broLlghr for\\'.ird irl thc c r c a t i ( n lo f Z Z T o p , p l u s t h e b o n ! s o f h u v i n g ne\,lbund hc|ocs in the British In\,!lsion guvs. It rves r haDdv way t0 start." The rlbu]n is yerv l1]uch a "livc in the srudio" affair', recordecl with the gloup's ncrvlv a c q u i r e dt o u r i r g r i g . " T h e f i r s r r l b u n i s a l l Pe:rrll, Grtes thrlrugh a 1Oo-\\'att N,Inrshrll,' Billy exphins. "Dust)'waspleyilga Danclcctro Longhofn bass throulih his l0O lvatt l,lir s h a l l . t n f a m o u sD u s n f a s h i o n .h e l o f g o t t o b r i n g h i s ' 5 1 T e l e b a s st o t h c s t u d i o ,s o h e h n d to usc the house brss et thc studio, rrhich w:rs this \rcird Danelecrfo LoDghorn. I think it lrxs e two pickup nnrdcl, or nriybe N single. And thrt s $fiat nade upthc sound.' S h o r t l t r f t e r t h e d e b L r t . r l b u mr v a sc o m p l c t c d , B i l l i t o o k h i s f i r ' s t s t e p st L r n a r da i s s i n g t h e i m p r c s s i v cg r i t a r -c o l l e c t i o nt b a t h e possessestodrv. "Peerly had such a lobust :rnd distinctiye personalitl, eDd it rvas ml goal to get a sparc," he sa,vs."Looking at lrerrl).. I t h o L r g h t L, c t ' s s c c .t h i s i s j L r s ta c h u n k o f l v o o d . I t l n u s t b e t h e s eh L r n l b u c k i n g p i c k u p st h n t , r r r l
,€
fof Pexrll, but I said, 'Okal,,1ine.And ).cs,it had a gTeatsourd.It{,as a f:rf cr\r irom the shapc of the Les Peul, but ithid those eally PAFs." Billv s glritrr collection had grorvn ap p r e c i a b l l b y t h e t i m e s e s s i o n sf b r t h c s c c o n d ZZ Top allruln. Rio a;,dnd" Mxd (1972), rolled r r o u n d . " I h a d i c q u i r e c l s o n r cm o r e o f r h o s e t\\'o - h Lllrb LLcker' alibson g'uiters," hc says, ''noncofwhich rvele natching up to Pearllr The1.x'elc a littlc lcss 1ou!1,so I rentirine.lon t h e q u e s t .I s r i d , ' Cc r t a i n l y t h e l e ' s a n o t h e r qlritar out thefe that sounds likc Pearl)..'BLrt h.c vet to lind one. (llose, ves. But Perrl] is still the benchnlerk." Norletheless,severrl ofthosc othcr $itars c.rrle in handy for oveldubs on Rio crunde .L/rd. tsilh' nadc exiensive use olr 1956sur,bLrrstFenclerStretocrster, \\.hich plor.idecl r nicc' single-coil counterpoint to Pc:uly's thro:rq, roar "Nloling from the 6r'st albul1rto the scc
o n L l . ' B i l l , vn o t e s , ' w e t h o u g h t , l C s n o t o L r to f oul rcalm to use a ferv rlifferent Eirlilarsand . r r p \ , u g r \ i r I I ' , r r r r . ^ r rr . l . . T h e r r .rirc e x p l o s i o nt h a t $ a s t r k i n g p l a c e a t t h e t i r r c w a s pm\.idin€ia \\,ide rrnlie o{tonrl verirnces, rrd that's \r-hcn rvc were $ illing to get inventive." Slide guital oveldubs madc their lirst appeirance on Rio crdnd.'Md.l. tsilly used a 1 9 5 8S u n b u f s rL e s P n u l - n o r q u i t e P e a l l r b u t r o t a t a l l s h a b b v f o r t h e s l i d e l e a d so n J u s r Got l'aid." He plays slidc in a varich ofopcn r I i r 9 . . - \ f ^ l ^ g i e ' o F e " l . l t .d l s . i r , r ' r A r . Cfdndc,VIud. is xn inshrrrrental slide nrrmber ph)e.l in oper E," he c\plains. Open C; LD G D G B Dl and open A [E A E AC, El are t\! ZZ Top's iritial "Southcrn Man" pelsonn started to come into fbctls on -fiio Grdnde,/t rrd. s o n g s l i k e ' J u s t c o t l l , r i d " . r n c l" C h e i r , r l e t " plojcct a stlong. blue-coll:rr, \\,orkin -ntin
identity.But the fondnessfor cowboyhats andwestem garbwasknown to causeconftrsionbackin 1972.for insta[ce,the crowd was a mite perplexedwhen ZZ Top openedfor the Rolling Stonesin 1972. "We gotword that Mick Jaggerheardour fir.t albumandlikedir. Dusq Hill relare:. 'And he wantedus to openfor the Stonesin Hawaii.Thatjustblew us away.Butthe next thing I heardwasthat StevieWonderopened for them here in the Statesand actuallygot booedat one show SoI was scaredto death. We get onstagein Hawaij with our cowbo} hats,bootsandjeansandyou could heara pin drop.Somebodywent, 'Oh no,thev're a country band.'" "Butwe had our Marshallstackscranked and we were readyto pouncefor the kjll," saysBilly,taking up the tale."we very quickly had to getgrindingto dispelthe mlth: Yeah we may look like wejust felloffa wagon,but we're hereto entertain." "We got an encoreon all three showswe did, Dusq :dds. And ir waswri(tenup irL Rol/ingStone or sonerhinglikerha(.It was one ofthe first big stepsfor us.And I've got grearmemories of lhar.lile neerirg Charie watts down at the bar and havinga few."
TltEtoltloltYEtRs, PfltsE rYt0 (l07il-76): Slllil(lGlGRS 0ll lcl0 The albumthat put ZZ Top on the map was freslJombres.Releasedin 1973,itwas the recordthat crystallizedZZ Top'ssoundand early style. Like Rio GrandeMud, the title ?reslfombresreflectsthe influenceofla Frontera,the Mexicanborder flavorthat creepsinto Texan culture in generalandthe ZZ Top aestheticin particular And bythis point, Zz Top had becomea highly seasoned live act,an inevitablebyproductof almostconstanttourlng. "Not to knock London Records,butthey didn't do a great dealfor us,"saysHill. "we were humping everynight. Any gig. Eveq' gig. Opening for whoeverwe could," At the sametime,with two albumsunder their ornate westernbelt buckles,ZZ Top had becomecomfortableand highly competentin the recordingstudio.All ofthese factorshelpedto make?res Ilornbresthe group'sfirst Platinum albumand an enduring catalogitemto this day. "?res -lJombreswas olrr first breakthrough,ard it's still a favo te discwith fansandthe band,"saysBi1ly."Oneof the reasonsfor that is that it hasour first Top-10hi!'La crange.'" ZZ Top'stribute to a legendary Texasbrothel,"La Grange" is a shuffleboogiein a style initiatedbv bluesmanJohn Lee Hookerand revivedby late-
Sixtiesbluesgroup CannedHeat.ZZ Top put their own stamponthe idiom, althoughBilly's low-pitchedleadvocalcameaboutsomewhat by accident. "We'd cut the music track, and I was working on the vocal,"Billy recalls."Butsomehow itwas notgelling.We workedand worked on it. I rememberthe sessionhad startedearl;, and we'd gottento the pointwhere everyone wasgettirg fati$red and hungry.So I said, 'Look,takea lunchbreal. And t remembel I wassitting in a metal foldingchair,having stoodup in front ofthe vocalmic for hours.I pulled the microphonedown and askedthe engineer ro giveit onemore(D. Burhe was havingsomekind oftechnicaldifficulty and said,'Uh, you'll haveto wait a minute until I figlre this out.' 'After a little while he said,'we're running,but I'm not sureifwe're taking [i.e. recordinSlthis.You'll probablyhearit in your headphones, but don't pay any attentionto it.'So I heardthe musicstart.And it wasjust one ofthose thingswhere I startedhorsing aroundwith this lowvoice.I got throughthe first stanzaofthe two. I happenedto glance up throughthe control room glassandthe engineerwaslookinghappyand excited,mak ing gesturesthat seemedto say,Keepgoing. You'vegot somethinghereand we'regetting it on tapelAnd thatwas the take andthe 6nal keeper the vocalyou hearon the record." The extrabeelJguitartrack combinestwo ofBilly's favoriteguitars:Pearlycates and a 1955maple-neck,hard tail Stratocaster, both pumpedthrough100-wattMarshalls.The combinationof Pearly'sLesPaul/humbucker low end growl and the Strat's crisply defined,singlecoil sparkleis a potent one.The Stratis heard frrst,statingthe song's main chordaltheme.
there t s another guitar out there that sounds like Pearly. But I've yet to finiL one. Closer Xos. But Pear1y is still the bench mark. tt
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in when the drums and bassenter doublingthe Strat'srh)'thm pattern and kicking the grooveinto 'Tfi.r'qc
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oneofthose great playing great-sounding instrumentsl'Billy says."I still haveit. By the time we recordedlres lfombres, we'd enteredthe eraof the overdub. So it gaveus a gloriousopportunityto bring both Pearlyand the Stmt into the picture." Billy alsousedthe Strat to playboth of the song's memorableso1os. The sec ond leadis the first ever on a ZZ Top discto incorporatepinch harmonics,a techniquethat would be comea slgnrtureerement ofBilly's glitar style.'And that happenedquite by accident,too,"he notes,"I had not studieditor anything.I just reailycame
acrossit and said,'cee, this is an odd effect.'At thattime it wasquicenovel.Thoseharmonics canbe highlyunpredictable.But the technique isbasicallypicl followedbyflesh from the thumb.My questionis how doesDusty do it without a pick?How doesDustyplay at all is myquestion.Buthe playsvery well. He'sthe best,and very loud." Like ZZ Top'sFirst Album and Rio Grandg Mudbefore it, Ires Ilombreswas recordedat RobinHood Brian Studioin Texas,but it is the first ZZ Top albumto be mixed at Memphis' legendarvArdentrecordingstudio,one more factorthat puts it in a different leaguethan its predecessors, Memphis,Tennessee, is one ofAmerica'sgreatmusiccities,known,with somejustice,asthe Home ofthe Blues.B.B. King, Howlin'wolf, Elvis ?resley,Jerry Lee Lewis and Otis Reddingcamefrom Memphis. With SunStudios,SamPhillips' MemphisRecordingServiceaIId StaxandArdent in town, Memphishasalwaysbeena greatrecording destinationaswell. ZZ Top firstcameto Memphisro phy : blue' iestival. The promoterhadheardtheir recordsand assumedtheywere black.This ni"understanding mrderhemlhe onlywhile artistson the bill, but everythingworkedout fine in the end. "There were a lot oflocal musicianshangingrbout. Billynrrrates.We made5ucha goodimpres'ionrharue hadthe opporruniq to meetthem afterthe showwasover Allthe localhotshotgunslingerswere there.And a coupleofthem said,'cee whiz, you guys makesomepretty goodrecords.why don't you considerrecordingherein Memphis?'l said,'we've just completeda seriesofrecordingswhich we're readyto take to the next level.we call it ?resIJombres,in keepingwith our Tex-Mexorigins.'Theysaid,'Sinceyou alreadl'recordedit, would you considermxing iLhere?\\e harer .tudio l"ereir \.4emphis calledArdent, andthere'ssomereal handy talent on the engineeringstaff As a matter of fact.LedZeppelinhavejusrfinishedrecording thei Led ZeppelinIII albumatArdent.' "Well, that wasbig news.After abrief discussion,we decided,Let's giveit atry And havingmixedour frrst Top-10record at Ardent,which was a big deal,we now had a bondwith musicmadein Memphis.And we worked atArdent recoldingstudiofor the next 20 years." Itwas a no-brainerfor the bandto head for Ardent when the time arrivedto record the follow-up to tres llombres.The studio would yield haif of what becameZZ sessions Top'ssecondPlatinumsuccess, Fdnddngo. The otherhalfofthe albumwas culled from a hell-raisin'liveshow in New Orleans.So{ans got the bestofboth worlds:somefirst-rateZZ Top studiotracksand a tasteofthe live sound that had madethe group a hot concertdraw in the Seventies. The album alsoofferedthe wider paletteofguitar tonesthan an]' ofits predecessors. '?dnddngowaswhen we were starting to showup bringingtruckloadsofguitars,"Billy sats."This was a real tuming point in learning how to experimentwith unusualgear.It turns out that the engineerswho worked at Aident JohnHampton,TerryManningand
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JoeHardy were all gearheadsard had rooms ofoff-the-wallequipmenttheyhadmanaged to :rmass. Oneofthe favoriteampson that album \ asl Sil\erlone2rl2 combothath:d belongPd to Alex Chilton lMempfiis legendof BoxTops/Big Starfdne *'ho f ettuentlyrecoftledat Ardentl. Manyofthe artistswhopassedthroughAident endedup using it. AId there was e 4xl2 tweed FenderBassman anda little topJoadingtweed FenderHarvardwith a to-inchspeakerthat had belongedto SteveCropper [Mernphrsgr:irar leg,nd ofsta>.RetotdsOrisReddingBooka r. dtldthe MGsfamel;' Billy's distortedtoneson Fdnddngotracks iike "NastyDogsand trunkyKings"hit a new levelof graininess-atough,squared-off, highlyclippedtone thatwould becomeanother signaturecibbonsguitar timbre.Billy attributes the tonality in part to the advent ofsolid-statecompressors, mic pre amps and other studiogearcominginto currency ar studioilikeArdenrin the mid-Selenties. Elsewhereon the disc,"Heard It on the x" rs a superbslideworkout in openG,and "Blue JeanBlues"featuressomeofthe mostlyrical, playingBillyhas ever minor-ke_v, sJow-blues done.For the song,he pJayeda maple-necked '5o S t r r l .a n dr l r er r s u l l i n cg l c d |l|o n c. h i r n merswith amazingdepthand clarity. "Thrt was ano!herstudjo experiment,"says Billy. "The guitar was pl gg€ddirectlyinto the board.our eqllipmenttruck had brokendown and we had no amps,but the clockwas running and the engineersaid,'Well,ifyoujust want to get somethingdownontape,we can plugyour guitar straightinto the board.'Of course,Fendersareby natureultra-cleanand bright, so puttingthat Stratthroughthe board worked for that particulartune.'BlueJean Blues'couldbecalledone ofthe more haunting slow-blues-based numbersthat we've managedto get down. The quietnessofit all allowedthatclean effectto be usedto good ad\anrage. lt s ven,differenrlrom what*e re known for-a kind ofrash, hard,distorted tone.But it's still a favorite." By far the best known track on Fondango, hoi,ever,is "Tirsh,"a brashuptemposhuffle tnal Decame a malornltTotzz 1op.lnere are numerous,variedand highly imaginative interprerations ofwhal rheword"lulh. as appliedin rhesong.acluallymeans. buLit s clearlythe tale of one man'squestfor something fine.sungwith fearsomeupper-register intensity by Dusty Hill. "we wrote 'Tush' at a soundcheckin Alabalnail,Iaboutsix of eight minutes,"the bass ist recalls."It washot ashel1,and with the exceptionof a very few words the songyou hearon the recordis whatwe wrote that day. we alwaystape our soundchecksfof that very reason[i.e.songu,riting]. Usually,though,it's a little lick or avocal line or something,not a whole damnsongl" The oniythingthat couldmatchtheintensity of"Tush" is a ftrll-onlive setby ZZ Top,which is €nactlywhat fi\€ of-Fdndango's songsdeliver. "For that pafticularshow,we were at a fanous New OrleansvenuecalledtheWarehouse,"Billy recollects."It's a greatroom,a tLrrnofthe centxry wood-and-brickwarehouse right on TchoupitoulasStreetina line ofmany old warehouses. Notonly wasit a popuiarplace
to go but the sound irside was fabulous. with that much brick and old wood, it wasjust this fesonant box oftone, It didn't really matter u'hrt )'ou brought into there, the room made it sound $eat. Everybody I've ever talked to who played at the warehouse has said,'Yeah, isn't that a great-sound ing place to play?' " tne flafinum success of ?res Ifombres and -Fdnddngoenabled ZZ Top to mount one ofthe most ambitious and bizarre tours in alt ot rocx nls(ory. zz Top's world Wjde
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probably the best exanple of ZZ Top's foray into the super-1ow frequencies.
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as "Taking Texas to
the People:'They meantthat literall)'.The 35,000-square-foot stagewashewn in the shapeof Texasandweighed35tons.It took five massivetrucks to transpotthis mammoth stageand all its attendantrigging,notto men rionranch-l':ndpropsrhatincludedfences, windmills, live cactiand livestock.Yes,a live steerand buffalo,alongwith assortedbreeds ofbuzzard and rattlesnake,all had rolesin the big extravaganza. Theywere attendedby fully qualifiedanimalhandlers,who alsotraveled with this rollingrock and roll circus.Nonetheless,sometimesthe crittersgotloose,terrorizing concertgoers, As for Gibbons,Hill andBeard,they were deckedout in elaboratelystitchedand ornatelystuddedwesternsuitsdesignedand handmadeby the famouscountry-and-western tailor Nudie Cohn.The outfits included big ol' cowboyhats,naturally.Billy and Dusty playedcustomaxeswith Texas-shaped bodies. By this time, Billy's lifelongquestfor a guitar equalto Pearlyhad led him deepinto designingcustom instruments.Gibsonmadehim the glitars, but overthe years,Billy Texas'shaped hasharchedincreasinglyourrageou.guitar designswith a numberoftop luthiers,John Bolanbeinga particularlyfavoriteaccompirce. By way of context, the worldwide Texas Tour rolled down the highwayat a time when musicalstarslike DavidBowie,Alice Cooper, Kiss and Parliament-Funkadelic were mounr inghighly elaborateconcerttours,bringing larger. than lifeguillotineexecurions. space ship landingsand other spectacles to the rock Seenrgain.rtheb:ctdropofrhe"ebig "r..r6es. sho*-s,the world wide TexasTour functioned asboth competitionand parody. The mid Sei.enties were alsoa time when glamwasvery much the prcminentfashion modein rock.A lot ofgroupsand their fans werer-y'ngro looklike androgynous, deca dent,urban,ultrahip spacealiens.Meanwhile, ZZ Tup u ereguingrrourd like shitlickers on acid-very muchthe antithesisof glan'L althougheverybit asdressedup and imag€consciousasth€ glamsters.The cowboy hatsthat had beena liabilitt'ir '72 had been transformedinto a high conceptstatenetl,
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a kind ofredneck drag. This wry overinsistence on their Texas roots was one ofseveral factors that 5 e p a r a t e azl z l o p t r o m t n e herd of "southern boogie" bands that had also gained curency irthe mid to late Seventies. And like all great concepts, it functioned on several levels. More downhome fans could raise a longhom Bud in the air and holler "hell yeah!" while hipsters could feel like they were sharing an insidejoke. ZZ Top were following the age old showbiz maxim: Take whatever it is you've got and exaggerate it. "Well, we had a glaring awareness of our inability to look like fashion mode1s,"
Billy deadpans. "To this day,one ofthe band in-jokesis aimedat our fearJess bassplayer, DustyHill, who is known for beingirnmr.rne to fashion.Be it clothing,the favoriteguitar ofthe day,the newestamp,you will not 6nd it in Dusty'scloset.In the beginning,we didn't havetime to designwardrobe;we were touring too hard,bustingour assto get to the next show andgoingonstagein whateverwe happenedto be wearingThatin jtselfbecamr pan or rnepercepfion 01LL toq: |Jn)ean they're thoseTexasguys,I've seenthem.They wear cowboyhatsand cowboybootsa lot.' What startedout aseveryday clothingto leave thehousein overtheyearsbecame a Irademark,whether intentionalor not:' Keepingthe Longhom Statemotifgoing, ZZ Top decidedto nametheir next album TEds,the Spanishspellingfor the tenitory that had oncebeenpart ofMexico. It's another classic,bluesyzz Top disc,but a pronounced countryinfluence alsocreepsinrothe mix, The album'shit single,"It's Only Love,"is not only one ofcatchiestthingsthe band has everydonebut alsopossesses an unmisral abletwang.And "She'sa Heartbreaker"is as cou ry asrt gers. "Oh,without question,"Billy concedes. "Aroundthattime I was driving from Hous ton down to Austin a lot ofhear the Fabulous Thunderbirds,who werejust gettingstarted and playing'BlueMonday'nightsat a pizza joiit inAustii calledthe Romelnn. And halfivaydown,you could startto pick up this geatAustin radio station,KOKE-IM. Oneof the DJs on there decidedto turn the playiist upsidedown and createa format that could go from ceorgeJonesto the Rolling stones,back to back.That certainlyhadan impacton me. 'And atthe tim€,therewasthis greatwave, a new movenentcomingout of c alifomia: when RogerMccounrryrock.lt hadsrarred cuinn lowedthe Byrdsto go in that direction on sweetheartof theRodeo:the cowboy-ifica tion ofrock, with pedalsteelguitarshou,ingup on rockrecords. And comingoutofthatlineup of the Byrdsyou had GrahamParsonsandhis band,the FlyingBurrito Brothers.And cra ham wasofcour'sehang continuedonpage66
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*fllsll' Fdndango! 11975) "The first three albums were recorded exclusively at the Robin Hood Studiosoutside ofDallas, and the s p e c i a ls o u n d t h a t alu,ays seenred to be a c c e s s i b l et h e r e w a s due in part to the fact that the equip, ment was nailed to the floor and nothlngever noved so you could always count on a sound. Quite a good sound, I must say. "'Tush'was Pearly cates, mybeloved les Paul, played through the same Marshall Super Lead, and we sure enough did stop and enjoy the G tuning for the composition's slide elelnent. This song was largely straight gllitar to amp, br.rt I also utilized a real odd, esoteric device
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throughthe first six records, broughtoverby JeffBeck'sat-thetime tech.I had four ofthosebabies,and mey werernymarn roadampsfor years. I ran them through . cabinetswith those lcelestion] creenback speak. r
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called the Cooper Time Cube, which was a simplistic application ofthe complex world of physics. In a small rack mouDted can sits a small spcaker, right up next to ma,vbe 50 feet ofone inch rubber tubing, ivhich is coiled, sp nglike. The sound waves actuallv take longer to travel, havingto make these corners, creating a qpe ofdelay which is quite unlike the familiar sound of a digital dela]'. That was a real left field
piece of gear which they had-and still have, I might addin that studio. Sone ofthe guitar sounds that appear to be doubled on the early albums are actuallv the byproduct of thrt oddballCooper Time Cube."
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rfltoxwtDC" Degrello (r979) "we wrote this about the great Texas bluesman Joey Long, a GulfCoast lerdg!itar picker who appeared on a great lumber ofwonderful records by the likes of Slim Harpo al1dBarbara Lynn. He played on Lynn's great hit cood Thing coing,' which rvas covered btr the Stones, and which was really one ofthe important recordings that shaped lnyunderstanding ofwhere it was I wanted to go with my life. Itwas good. And 'Joey loaned me a multistringed mandolinlike instrun1ent r1om Paffal, Nlexlco, and I put it to good use on 'Nationwide.' Ifyou listen closely, you can hear close niked mandolinsoundingrhlthm accompanimellt, The lead track was played on a custonrmade, half size, real short-scaled guitar tuned to G. It wrs actually standard tunillgcranked up n minor third, {,hich remained quite pla1able thanks to the guitar's short scale. "The song's tail cnd alternates be tween three distinct effects created bv tu'o pedalsr an Echoplex doubler and a Mae stro octave box alternating every third bar between having the octave up and the octave down. The song also contalns some Hohner Clavinet,
rvhich was owred by one ofour famous Memphis pals, Crrlos De Marlos- lt's such nn interesting sound that it if3rited Dust),'s lfl ill I'dssrs.] interest in learningsome keyboard skills, and itwas he who subscquently handled all the tickling ofthe ivories."
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surGltssEs' Deguello (t979) "This songwas ac. tually written during a trip from the Gulf Coast up to Austin, Texas.A b ght spot ofcreativity flared as we were passjng the hamlet ofLa crange, and I recited all three verses of'Cheap Sunglasses'within the space of20 n1iles.And that's the way they stayed.Though that may sound simplistic, the lpics speak for themselves.'Simplistic'is indeed a word which mal.come to the minds ofsome. "Th€ lead track was performed on a fake Fender gxitar, which I used for the wiggle stick there is a little divc bomb in the solo section. I played it through a Marshall Major, a shoft lived 2oo-watt beast, which had one blou'n tube. Hence the rather bulbous, rotund sourd. There's a l s oa l i t t l e b i t o f digital dela]' for that Bo Diddley imperson atiol at the tail out, and a Maestro Ring Modulator, which produces the strange tag to each verse.lt appears rnree un1es, and it's a prctty funny sound. That is one insane effect put to
:
With Reeycle?, ZZ Top looked- to the future by going back to their roots. Billy Gibbons and.Dusty Hill recall how it felt to boogie
agaln . ByHarold Steinblatt &BradTolinski OIICE UFOI| A TrUE therewasWilliam Bunch, bluesman.The saidBunchwasn'ta bad guitarist, and he wasa prettygoodpianist.Buthe had a gredrimaginaLror. so oned11he begancalling hims€lfPeetieWheatstraw,the Devil'sSon In Law and High Sherifffrom Hell. And Peetiedid pretty goodfor himsell Will:rm Bunchundersrood rhrr rhebluesis ore than music,It is entertainment.EvenmLrre so,it is mJsferious. TommyJohnson,like the morefamous Robert,wassaidto havesoldhis soul to the devil in exchangefor his skills on tl,e guitar. Accordingtobluesscholars,TomnTydid little to discouragesuchtalk. Like Wiiliam Bunch, he understoodthe powerof mystery.Consider CharliePatton,known asthe Fatherofthe Delta Blues,andAaron "T-Bone"Walkef perhapsthe grearesrg!itarisr to.one our ofTej\as. Theif stylescouldn'thavebeenmoredissimilar,but they had at leastonethingin common:they were energeticeltertainerswho, longbefore Jimi Hendrix restrunghisfirst Strat,played glitar overtheir headsandbehindtheir backs. Billy cibbonsandDustyHill understandthe blues."Understand," astheword is usedhere,
is not meantin the historicor musicalsenses, r1-ough lhe two arecenrinl) wcllequipped it) thosearenas.As a child,Billy spentcountless hoursinthe time-honoredpursuitof Listeniruto MusicYou'reNot Supposed To.Today,in the true traditionofthe bluesobsessive, his eyeslightup in intimaterecog tion atthe merementionofan obscureDeltagritarist.And DustyHill? He was playingbassbehindthe legendaryFreddieKing at.15-anagewhen mostkidsthink a "shuffle"is somethinglaz)'peopledo. Nevertheless, Gibbonsalld Hill understand the bluesin a mannerthat transcendstheir considerableknowledgeof the music's dereJopmenr ard instrurnental rechnique:. Unlike so nany second-rate, would be blues players,they sharean intuitive feel for the blues on an entjrelydifferentlevel. Perhapsthe bestindicatorsofthis sensibilit_v in Bill], and Dustj were the greatvideosfrom the tlimindtor album-particularly "Sharp DressedMan" and "Legs."cibbons,Hill and drummer FrankBeardwere nothinglessthan genii inthose clips,beni$, intengiblefi$rres who existedsolelyto spreadthumbs up encouragernenr rrd hot-hrbegoodcheerr
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deserving,overworkedsoulsworldwide.The perlona.in ZZ Topbol. arethe lea.r-iocu5ed the videos-the most mysterious.The beards fur'therblur their identities.cibbons and Hillare notAmish farmers.Nor arethey 19th centuryprospectors,or HasidicJews.They are a bit like peetieWheatstraw,the Devil's Son-In-Lawand High Sherifffrom Hell. ZZ Top and william Bunchwould understandeachother-that muchwas made clearby the group's1991rlbum, R€cycler. While it wasby no meansan acousticblues album,itwas the rootsiestthing cibbons,Hill and Beardhad donein years,the work of men who know the blues-the entertainment,the my\lery.As Billyhimselfsang,My Head' in Mississippi"-.. OUTTAI|WORI.D What is it aboutthe bluesthat attractedyou? BILIY OIEBOIS The backbeat.The two andthe four madeyour headsnap.Plusitwas coolbecauseour parentshatedit. lldugfis] oUSIY HlL|. Actuall).,mymother turned me on to the blues.We had Lightnin' Hopkins
as well as Elvis Presley records. I thought everyone had them. I'd go over to ftiends' houses and ask them to put on some Howlin' woll and theywouldn't know what I was talking about. Then, wh€n theywould come o v e r l o m v h o u 5 e .I d p l a l r l r e m , u m e b l u e s . Their parents ivouldn't let them come back. [lau3its] The blues were still called "race records" back then.I lneall, how cold is that? The €motion on those records reall]' c a p r u r e dm e . l l o v e d r h e f e e l i n g o f r h e m u s i c . When I started playing,I couldn'twaitto play somethingthat had that much feeling. G w I n w h r t w a 1 d i d r h eb l u e ss r i m u l a r e your imagination? HlI.L When I was younger,I'd listen to a song and take it literally. I'd rhink, Boy, what a drag. How horrible, he mustbe really bummin'. Ifitwas about sex I'd think, Bo$ I wish I was that gu].l OW Because your appearances are so unNual, and yourvideos are so clever, it's very easy to believe that ZZ Top live the lyrics to their songs. Il1 that way, the band comes close to capturing the essenceofthose legendary
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countrybluesman, GIBEOIS You'reright. Cotton is no longer pickedby hand,sothe problemis: How do you go aboutwriting freshblues?The bluesdeals with the high€stofhighs, the lowestoflows and allpoints in between.So\re had to create surrealisticentitiestha! could handlethose extrene moodsrvings.It seemedthat this was the only legitinate way to approachit. we like to think ofourselvesasthe SalvadorDalisof the Delta. OW The ZZ Top phenomenonis a wonderfulvehiclefor fantasy.Do the fansever confuseyour real selveswith your video and vinyl personae? HlLI- Oh yeah,especiallywhen I'm at homelForexample,I'llgointo a convenience store,and invariablytheguybehind the counterwill say,"What areyou doinghere?" like he doesn'tbelieveI eat,or somethingl Then oncethat'sout ofthe way,he'll start lookingoutthe window to seeifthe car and the threegirls are out there.I usuallyend up tellinghim that the girls are repairingthe car backat the house,so he won'tbe too bummed. ow Billy,you'vementionedthat Bo Diddley wasoneofyour big innuences.Likeyou, he wasknown for his odd-shaped guitars,great rhlthm chopsandunusualstageclothing. OIBBOIIS He wasthe perfectbridge betweenDeltabluesand rockerslike Chuck Berry Bo'stone-which was producedby a g!itar andtwo DeArmon! cusromGrelSch pickupssetin Lhemiddleroggle single-coil position,and a Magnatoneamp-was dramaticallydifferent.He didn't soundlike anyoneelse, His sound,combinedwith his arrayof bizarrerectangularguitars,madehim a real hero.The fact that a major manufacturer buiit him a specialguitar alsointrigued me I r h o u g hw l,ho isthi.guy?Howdidheget cretsch to makehim a gtlitar?He'sstill one of the most fascinatingfiguresin Americanrock and roll. Interestingly,his soundseemsto be making a comeback.RecentlyI've heard a coupleofrecords featuringhis distinct rh}'1hmtone.I guessit's taken the music \rorld 30 yearsto finally crack the code. [aug,ris]It's still a,fne sound. cwwho elseinfluencedyour sound? GIEBOHS Dusty and I recentlycompared nore5on IharsuhjecrandcarneLp u irh rhe obvious:B.B.King, MuddyWaters,Jimmy Reed,Howlin' Woll John Lee Hooker and Albert Collins.But someofthe more obscure influencesincludeTerry Simpson,who played with a Texasoutnt calledthe Raiders.They a hrd severalinstrumentalhits in the Sixties, includirg "Stick Shift,""Motivation" and "RaisingCain:' The Nightcaps,out ofDallas, \uprp .ts^ hio infl,,an.pe
Htr.|. Even oncein a while, Billywill throu' a Nightcaps lick in the midJleof a songduring a live shoq and we'lljust look at eachother
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allthree shrre thc sanlophilosophv:"Lessis brst." And "So/idlessis t/rebcst."Ifyou havea soliclforrndation.then i,oLlcan pia).. cw ulh).is Dalhs suchr hol,r'pl.rcefor' g1litaf?
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rnd wink. I lovc it {4rou he Lloesthrt, 'c:ruscit L r s L r : r ldl yo e s r r ' tb e l o r g t h c r c . \ l \ ' ' r J . ir, i r f L r c n c e $ . ( r l r _r r | | i \ d r i r . p h v e r s a n d b : r n d s ;i s t a r t e dp l . r v i n g t r a s sb \ ' a c c i d e n t .N { \ 'o l ( l c r b r o t h c r - p h | e d g u i t r r r n d I . . r r \ \ . f n r r . 1 . . ' r ' L l r n r e .r r r . -r r , r ' r l i z e d i v e n e r - , d etdo c o m p l c t c t h e f h ) t h m s e c t i o r r , so the\' elecred nre to [re thc bass p]:rl'er. Str.right arr r\, we \\'efe pleving in clubs rnd jrnlnlinlt \\'ith clcr-\tody in to\\,n, so I reallv l c e | n e d t o p h l r r h i l c o n s i a g c .A i t e f p l , r ) i n g l i I I o r , e a l s , I l a n c l e dI g i g $ , i t h F r o d d i e Iiingl I \\'.rs anazcd that the,v even let lllc on t h c s l n r e s t i e e ,b e c r u s cI r c a l l v w l l s n t \ , e r r good though I ceme prett)' chelp. [du!'/rsl ] w r s o n l v 1 6 i t t h c t i m c a u d \ 1 a sp e t r i f i e d . BacL then, the clubs $-cre still segfe€iated. One night \r,c plx_\'edrhe Ascot Bellroorn. * ' h i c h u , a se b l a c k c l u b . I d i d n ' t h a v e a d l i v c r ' s license et the time, so sonebody droppecl
' r c r I | u l l , " lr r r : r I f r r o r ' e d ^ o f . . ' n L l' thc dffr xn. \\'ho lvas l prc|tl'big felli, srid s o l n c \ ' h r t t h f e a t e n i n g l i , " W h . r t d o Y o uw a n t ? " I s N i d , ' l h l w i t h t h c b a n d . ' I I e l o o k e dn l e o \ e r a n d s : r i d ,' I d o n t t h i n k s o . ' . h s t a s a l l r h e s e p e o p l e s t a r t c d g a t h e r i m ge r o L l n d l, r c d L l i c pushed his s..rv through tlrc crotd rnd sxid quictll.. "C nron. Aftef ore sorg. elerithing \\'rs rll right. ow \Vh.t gear did l.ou Lrse\r,hen vou lvere plalirgwith Ffeddie Kirg'i HILL I wxs fhvinli rn old hoLlori'bod! H r f n r o n r t h r o u g h \ \ 4 r a t e \ ' o If c o u l d b o f r o $ . I finalll stcpped up to rn Anlpcg, \\4rich I loved becruse it had r-ollcrsl clBBOl|S Love that outborfd geirr llarqlnsl cW \ hs l reddicvour rnaininlluence? HIL! I lerrlled how to pla]'prilnafil)'ffom Fr-eddie,ny hrother and Billy. IDtclcstingly,
C I B E o S C u l r u r x l l y ,u p L l n t i l t h e r r i d F i f t i e s t | e f e q r s n t n l L r c ht o d o e x c e p t p l a \ ' . cw Dust1, \rho influelcc(l vour singing? HrLL lriiialh; Ehis rlid Lirtle Rich.ud. Then thefe $rs r ldlggap.l nr Dotknockir" Pxt Boone iDcl Bobb] Vec rnd ill thxt stlrff, but it was leall) gctting bo rirlts-.Then canc the En€ilishg11\.s. who fcallv saved nre.I thinl pcoplc likc the Beirles Iifted clclrrrnc b:rck up. G W t s c r il l r i r L $ ' . r f / | l r i n r , , , / L l " t \ , \ r h o l e p r o d u d i o n s t l l c c h a n g e d .T h e p | i n . r | r , l i f , r r c , . . r . l r e h e . r r r i, r L h . r ' l r L l r r r .L. c L i o l \\rhere rr:rr\.gfolrys s\reetened their sound Lx r i l d i n E is ! n t h e s i z c d s t r i n g s a n i l b e l l t o n e s ,v o U t ( J o kt h c o p f o s i t e r o u t e b y c l o u b l i n g b a s sl r n e s with fet, en.llog sh'lc sl'nrhs. At !imes, those d o u b l e c lb . r s sl i n e s u e l c s u p p l c m c n t e i l\ r i t h . r d d i t i o n : r sl i x t e e n r h - n o t eb a s so s t i l l a t o s .H o r t c l i c tl h e t . r p p r o . r c ho . o l v e , a n e lh o r . d i d , v o u f e c l . r b o u tt h a t r s I b a s sp l a l c r - ? H I L L I f e l t f i D ei b o u t i t . I h n y c D o p f o b l € m s \ \ , i f h a n \ . t h i n gt h a i \ 1 . i l le n h r n c e t h e s o u n d . I considefthe synthesizclto bejust another' instr-um€nt. I l(no\\'sorlle peoplc havc r p r o b l e l n $ i t h i t , b u t c v e u t u : r l l i ,t h e l ' 1 1g e t L r s e dt o i t . I n d 1 ee r f l v d r \ . s ,t h c ) w o u l d n t l e t a dflurlner ph| ir the cnnd Olc Opn,. Now GW I $,xs['t tryingto su€ieestdri]t d1e synthesizefs hrd a regatilc in4ract on thc soDgs.I {,rsjust wondering ho\\. thc production stvlcc\'ohcd. c I E B O N S \ I e h r d r e c o r d c dt l f d c o : r d Deguello r-ith cvcllone in seprrrte lroorhs, aDd \re hated ir.It felt too stcrile. lt relrll\' bothefed Lrsto be conneded \\'ith hcadphoues rnd m i c r o p h o n e s .S o e t t h e o u t s c t o l t l i r r i , r d r o r r . . i r i J r l r , ' r ' ^ r l i l r c i - c l L , . , I. \ . n J r r . , in one roori. Out ofthat 8"r-ouIfocus crnle I n c \ r r t t c n t i o n l o t e m p o .W e s t a r t c d p h f i n g i o c l i c k t r a c k s ,c i u m m a c h i n e sr r d s e q u e n c e r s fol adcleclprecisior.rncl found thrt \\'c cnjo]'ed it. lt rlso hrd r posiri|e ilnprct or tightcning u p o u l p l a f i n g . I f , r , o u ' lnl o t i c e ,d r e t i m i n g o n Elirlndror is tightcr than on our ffevious Icco|ds. \Ve steltecl rdhering to 11srri(lcnt obserlancc ofteDrpo. ZZ Top becones a f tr p i e c eb r n d $ , h c n " l { r T i n r c ' x r i v o s . H I L ! \ I h e n r h e f h y t h r n s e c t i o ni s r o c k . r l i , r .b i h , r l . . r r r p r r e L e ' r r r r . r o h , T h a f s \ \ , h e f et h e s e q u c r c i n g c a n r ci n . I r ' s | r strangc but eifecti!e combination. Plat'in8 in thc samc loom :rllorrs Lrsto re.rp lhe [rll b e n e f i t so f t h r t " h L r n a n f c c l . ' A t t h o s a r r e t i I n c , w c f e a b l e t o j u x t . r p o s et h a t r o o t s ! g r o o v eo n t o p o f m a c h i r e - g e n e r r l e d f h l t h m s . The approach allows Lrsto cor]lbine thc bcst o f troth $'orlds. G I B B o S l t w a s n ' t r c a l h .t h r t c r l c L r l : r t e d , because rr'e rerllv didn't kno\r'\llat \r'r: irefe d o i r g i n t h e s y n t h e s i z e rd o m : r i n $ h i c h n l a d c
it n orc fun. We took our cuc ftom lrrnk Z a p p a .l v h o s . r i d , ' D o n ' t r e r d t h e n 1 i n u a l ; j u s t get youf hxnds d;rtv ancl Llo it." |iw Ho$ did Rc.rcl€rcomc togethcr? cIEBONS ,Rc(rclcr \\.rs intefesting to n r a k e ,h e c r u s c i n i t i r l l v s e p 1 : u r n e dt o f o l l o r v t h e l i n c . r g ec s t . r b l i s h c di n E l i r r i r . r r ( ' a n d -,Vicrlurncr. Wc hdd $'rittei rr couplc ol highl) s t | u c t u | e c lp o p t u n e s i r r o u f s t u d i o i n I I o u s t o n . 'lhcn \\'c n'cni oLrt o Los Angclcsfor:r couplc ofn(nlths ird got into thc \hole seqLrcnccr, o y c r l t h i D g - i n - i l s - p l x c cl h i n g . B L r t\ v h e n w e .rrrircd irl \'lcmphis to finish the lccoLd,l'. s l i d i n t o i d i t f e f e n ! l n o d e .\ V h i l e u . e r i . e r c l aiting iol alt ofoul high-tcchgcel to rlrive, l c sct up in r circlc :urd stated pll ing and j r n n i n s . r s r L r r r r d .f h c s o L r n dc, v c n t h o L r g h i , \ \ . , . n , , 1 1. r . ' ' J , ' , q - . i . l r i l i r $ c r ' . l . a r T h c l c s u l t s o f s o n r c o f t h o s c s c s s i o u sc a r r b c h e r r d o r c u t s l i k e ' 2 0 0 0 l l L L r c sr n d x l l ! H e r d ' s i n N , I i s s i s s i p f i .B" o t h : r r er e n r i n i s c e n t o f o L u e a r l i c r m u s i c ,n h i c h i s n h 1 ' * . c c a l l Rccrc/er our ?,"s l1onbft,-t€linirdfof rlbun\\ie LliLln'tiblndon rhe groLrnd \\'e co\,efed o r l l l i r r i r d t o r r n d A f i c r b a r r r c r I ' o u c : r ns t i l l h e l r ' t h e s c q u c r c c r ' si t n d s l n t h e s i z c f s b L r t t h c \ " r c r l u c h n r o l e L l n o b h u s i v e\.V e a l l o N e d s o m c o f t h c l o L r g h c lc 1 c m c n t so f t h c b : r n i l to conrc shiniig dlroLrgh. Nlv Hc.rd's in X ' l i s s i s s i f p i , \' \ , h i c h \ \ ' : r so n e o l t L e l l r s t ( o m p l c i c d t r r c k s o n t h c a 1 b u m ,i s a g l c a t e x N m l r l co f h o $ . r c r r i x e d t h c n s v l i t h t h c o.l Ir''|:. r ' r . . , . - . i ; h t , l ' <' . 1c n o ; . , f \ , - r r . f . , Lr ' l r - r l : . ' 1 1 C i r r . l t l r - n u r r those highl) gated clc(tlonic dlum lills, rvhich n r o c l e r n i z e dr h e t r - a c k . cw Ho\r long did it trkc for lou to c0nFlcte thc.rlbuln? G I B B O S \ . 1 c n r ' : r ' r t s ( I e l l o , l , . . r i 'n time ir Houstor arld Los Angclcs, it rool{ u s f o L r rm o n t h s t o n a k c . R c ( v c 1 o \rr a s o n e o f o u f l o n g e r p f o j e c t s .I t h i n k i t r o o k e \ t r x tirne bccaLLsc$.c mn'cLi ro Nlcnrfhis Sound s t u d i o so n B c a l c s n - c c t .T h a t a | c a i s c h o c k fullolclistlrctions. Tfere iverel lot of glcarchalactcrsallals hugingout on the s ! r e e t s .l h e r e \ f a s o n c s t r e c t l n u s i c i r n n a m c . l A l a b e n r r ,r ' h o k n e l o r l \ o n e s o n g : ' B N b \ . P l c : r s cD o n ' t c o . ' B L r tt h a r ' sr l l h e n e e d e dt kno\: Hct Lrlal it fof onc clo*.d, ud rriren d r e r ,r r o u l d n r o v eo n , h e c l p h l i t . r g . r i nf b l t h c ncxt cro\r'cl, and so on. c W l l i l l y , ) o L r rt o n e i s i r l s i a n t l ) r e c o g n i z r b l e .$ i h l r t d o e s i t c o n s i s to f ? clBBoxs T o n c g o c sh a n d - i n - b r n i l r v i t h d e l i ! e r \ ' .r n d I c r c d i t o L r rp r o d u c c r B i l l H a I r r f o l c o r c h i n g n e o n u , h e r e t h e n o t e ss h o u l d fr11.You can lorll_v thicken the glritxr rrrck bv leyjn:j brrk just a Lrrcath frorrr ihc do{.nbcat. T h a l \ i i ! , . t h e g u i t . r r i s r r ' tc o l n p e ! i n gd i r e c t l ! u i t h t h c b a s s: r n db a s sd r u m f o r s p r c e .I t ' s s L L r p r i s l n hg o s n l u c h t h . r t l i t t L et r i c k c l r l a d . l Also, it s har(l not to gci x glcat sounLl n o w r d r y s , w i t h r l l t h c $ . u n d c r f u lc q u i p r r c n t ou rhe |nrflet.I nr particuhfl) inpresscd
i 1i t h T u b e w o l k s ' M o s v a l v e a m p . I t ' s j u s t t h e \\.ildcstthing. UJcused the Mosval\-c and our usunl irssortmen! ofFenlderc and \,Iarsha1ls, |rw Bill]', _vournd Dusq'r'eIe close fricn,.ls and musical collcagrresofStcvic R . r \ ' \ ' : r r g h x n .I t w o u l d b e : r p p | o p | i r t e i f v o e r c o n c l u d c do u r c o n l c l s r t i o n w i r h s o n r e\ \ . o f d s
brother,Jimmie,w*s sittingon the sidelines, soI kind oflookedoverat him audhejust shruggedhis shoulders;hedidn't sayarvord. so I let Steviejumponstagewith his red SG.He pluggedin xndjust startedwailing. I lookedover at Jimmie.who .|{asgriDrirg rvrth 'Ye.rh,he nrvlittle r lool{on his fxcethit s:ricl, bfothcr.'Hcwis sofroud.
c l E B O l l S H e $ , i r si r t r ' e n e n d o u sp l l r y e r : u r da t l e m c n d o u s p e r s o n .T h e r e \ \ ' r s i r e r l bc.rLrtiful sensc ofclosLrrc:it stelic lla! s [ e r ' . ' . ' . ( ' c c . \ \ ' e r , l l ( J I l Lr , L ' o L rl h < o l d d r r ' s .o n c t h i D g p x | t i c L r l r rs t o o d o L r ti n l11)n1ird: I rcInclnbcr plrrirg.r prilltc ihnce c l u h i n D : r l l . r sc r l l e d A I t h u r ' s . s r e v i eR r y , $ ' h o w l s 1 6 a t t h c t i n r c , r s l { e dt o s i t i n . I l i s o l L l € f
I t h i n k h i s d u e t a l b L r m\ y i t h J i r n n i c [ l 9 9 o s Frrril\, Stflel is r re:rl gift. \\ie rll feel so i , r r r r t , t , r . , . ,. l r . . l i r , l L 1 . , \ i , r . , r 1 i \ ' in the frce ofsuch agrc.rtloss.I ilon tthink . r n l o r e s h o u l d h r l b o r ' : r n l l o n g - t e r - ms r c l n e s s , thoush. Y)Lr nrust gricvc thc loss to tbc fullcsi, but I think he grrced us !!ith irgrert merroly x n d r s e n s eo l p u r p o s e . 6 d
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Blues bad.-asses? Pop visionaries? Med.ia nagicians? Will the real ZZ Top please stand. up ! E r L l y c r B B o N s p u L L s a b l r c l i l ) . r \ c b r l l( , r i ) ilrrr n on frr hcr,l IIr srle|]' x p,rifr)i5h.rdrs l i , , r ) r, r b r g h l l c L lt r i t h J c s i g | c r e r c r t u r . , r n d h t s i h e r ) rr ) r 1. r \ f x r c . s r f | | i n g b r c l i t i ) s u f \ c \ r h c r f l r c r . - \ r s ( l ) { ) : cI t h i n l , h c p | 0 r r 0 u I c t , s n c d i t r t i r c l r s t i r , l i n s h i s t l , r L l c n r . r r ck h i n $ u f r ) r c f .\ c \ r f o n r c s r l o r g o r r r c o l t t o m r t c h \ 1 r ' .( l i b b i , n . r w n l c , r t h c r l l o o r J u s L c r t . i k t . , p . l l c f I c c : r s 1 ) f r et r i t l r l i n i t i i t i r ) n c e f c n r o r l \ .I l c t l p r i v i l c g c d ,r r d n r . r rb c r l i r t l c : c r r e d I I e l c I m . t t c i n g r l r L n s i r l n r c t li n t o : r r l r o n o l u l r n r c u r h t f r ) l Z Z l o | b c r u J l c s s .h u r o r l r c N , : r lulir rig.qcd. I l i l l r n h c e l s n r e r r r L r r L it o l i r c c t h c c r n r c r : r r n d b c i t i r l si s s L r i n gf u r + c o n r r r r r ( l s L c f i k i o r i o f \ ' . r f d l R i g h r h l l n d p o i n r i n g .l i l i e r l )i \ . s t r ? \ o . n o l T h r f i n L l e s e \ t e n r l c d .T h r r s i r . r ' e r h . o L r \ : l L r l Lc h c c s r . R e r d \ , ) o \ : ' The rlcctronic llnsh rhirs rrrd hff:. i D r m o r t . r l i r l f gm r \ | I \ l . r i c f t c n u I er l L l r l c \ x s l c r r s t , u r € r f e s ( r r n ( 1r L l ll r l J L r n L l i l r . r n ! f s i p o s r n r o d c l u h l u e s b r r n d .T h c n h o l e j r D p r ( i m t m s o L r | c n i Is r : r p f c s th r L s bccr:r nreredircr':ion f|onr the tIrre LrLrsints:
7
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r u th r L n t i .: r h i r h - p r r r re r t r l p l r o t o : l r o i r r l i t h r ) r ) Lr ) f r l . L r tt \ r ( l h f r r c s t o p p i n g - 1 i g o r g c o L r : n r o d . l \ r r ) d , r\ ! u r d f L , r ro f c . l u r l l r l . c . r L r r i l i r l g L r i t . r f sI.t s i r l l l , r r ( o l t h c t f o n r o t i o u r l \ l )l r l s L r f f o L u r d i n g l r r d ) n lZr Z . l { i I s l o n { - x nl i t e d n c \ \ . r l b L r mt ,h c b r n d s i l , ' r l o f r h f i f l l c N ftcr)fd lrbcl. tl(lA. l I c \ \ f \ . l l i l l \ C i t r t r o n : .D L r s $ I I i l l . I r d f [ r ] r l i B c . u d h r \ c t o r ) r r r r r d c c | c . l u s L r i t ,r:t r h c I l o L r . n ) rO l n n i . \ ' h r f c t h c i i e s F e n tl l r c c l r e n r c r l r i n i r r S i o L r r n r l i s t :l n d p h o t o g - r . r p h e l s i n t h c i - r . r n ds r \ l r t b u r t h c r o r l d h : L sc o n r c 1 or \ p c ( t o 1Z Z T ( i | \ 1 ( r r s f f n r l i n ! m . u r ! 't:ll lillor irr inLligcnsrblc listrrl lis*r1ri,rlI lrir A t r o L Ll tl i l l \ ( l i b b ( ) n s
l l o s r r n r L s r c i r nhs . l r f c n r N o t B i l l \ . O f r r . r t i n g o n j L r s lI t r r h o L u . . 1 c c p .h c s c v c l n h f r c r r o n . e . c : r l r f L r l hf i n c m n i r g e \ e f \ p { r : c i r n ( 1c r m c r ' : rs e n L p i,e l e c t r n g :,. 1., ,t i. ,.f :
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garncnts in accofd:rnce with sonc concept t h r t o n L vB i l l l ' s c c m st o c o m p r e h e n d .H e h f f neverIosl the sharpcve forvisual detailhe acquifed xs nn !rr! stuclent at thc Universit\, of Tex,rs during the Sixties. Don't let thc hillbill_v h e . r rf 'o o l ' o u : B l h r i l ' l ' n r. i . . o t h i . r i i r r r . r a n d o b s e s s i v eH. e ' s r c h r o l i c i n s o m n i r c , a t r u e ,r r r .r:. rnd rr th.olL(. cu l'l -e"\. \b can't hclp but realize thjs once you\'c rvatched the guv lelling fol gaffer's tape so that hc can stick his shilt collarto the sideoihis neckrt just the right rngle. Gibbons brings the srme kild ofobsessive energv to his grit:rr ph,vin!i. You think thos" s € n r i n gp i c k h a r n o r i c s a n d f a t s l a b so i suplemely bu fied rl, ythm torc j Lrst /rdppcn? Thc kcv to cibbons'ax artistry is that he nrkcs it all solrnd so effoltless es snnDih :rnd eisv Ns.l loDg ncck Bud after a fierv bo\4 of f i r , e - n l a l mT e x e sC h i l i . B i l l ) e x p h i n s t h a t Z Z n r p \ \ , ' c r ec o n s c i o u s l )i.n s e r r c h o f a s t r i p p e d d o w n , u D s t l r d i c ds o u n d f o r A n t e t l t l d . "Anrennd rvrs pcrhaps ZZ Top's firsl c o n s c i o l r s! l e c i s i o nt o c r e . i t ca c o n c e p tp r i o r t o t h c c o m m e n c e m e n !o f f e c o r d i n g . n J c t o l d o u r s c l v c s ,' L e t ' s e s t r b l i s h a s t o p p i n gp l a c c a n d n o t g o b e y o r d t h e s o u n d o i : r t h r e e p i e c eb a n d fh!'ingthe blucs or thc kind ofinstrunrents vou sce hefe: old, ne\\' rlrd in bctu,een !3ritars. And abor'c all. Devel intfoduce a foufth chord lnto the s{rngs. " 'fhe n n i s h e . lp r o d u c t i s a d t r i l r b l v faithful to the initial concept. Oh, there's thc occ:rsional conga or I{annond B,3 prr.i. A l w d i s c r c c t s v n t h e s i z e l sc a n e v e n b e
heard lLrrking way' off in the beckgr-ouDd "seasoning," rs ZZ T{4}'s bassist Dusty Hill calls them. BLr!for the most par-t,Antcnnd .rbouDdsin blLres]'12 bargrital {.olkouts and stompil1g homc-sil'le grooves, all rendercd with ZZ Top's chrractelistic irolish rnd panache. Even in his pr'iicipal guitaf selechon fol thc lccord, Bil11'rvent for a stripped-down concept: Hc nlniDly played single pickup Fencler Esquircs, \\-hil€ Dusty I-Iill shadorved h i m o n a s e l i e s o f s i n g l c p i c k u p F e n d e rP tsass stl.Lcinstruments.I,roppcd up oD stands, scattered arourd the roon1,the l11rtching instrlrmen!s are llso coated in talcunr po\\'der. Thcsc bl:rck hcquered be.ruties arc idenricrl i n I ' r ' r r 'f n r r u l e . , l r h o . r g hp c r 5 u r J l ' 7d. l 1 ! sinuous irlavwork :rnd sculpted netal boLl_v insets like c1.bcr'-paganjervelrl'. ''The notion ofa singlc-pickLrp guitar," Mr. Cibbons philosophizes, "is not too fnr fl.om t h a t o f E i n s t c i r ' s c l o s e r ,w h i c h c o D t a i D c d nanlr suits, but all ofthell rvere identicaL. tt c l i r n i n r t e d t h e m o f n i D g d c c i s i o no f r v h r t r o O n e r c h E s q u i r e ,B i l l y r n o u n t e d e i t h e r r stacked Seynnmr Duncxn Pe:rflv Gates pickup or rn EXIG voiccd to pr-oducerhat P , . l \ L ; 1 r e ' r o n eP q . r f l L . i 1 l , s . , , .l n - : e . i . B i l l v s l a n c f o l h i s b e l o v e do l d ' s 9 S u n b L r r s t c i b s o n L e s P a u l S t a n d a r L l r n i n s t r u m e n tt h c g r i t a r i s t c a l l s " o n e o f t h c c o r n c r s t o n e so f Z Z Tq)'s humble beginnings." 'lhit's cool, Bill)', but wh,v were you tNing lo enrulrte a Clibson sound on :r Fender? lt musr've been quitc a tnsk lraking a bolr-
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neck guitll1.do thc sonic job ol-a set neck "Correct," the €iuitafist pronounces. "Ho\a'e\.er,thc notion is still that it's cither on or off." Uh, okal'. Sure. In coiversatior, rhere are tin1cs $'hcr Billl' Gibbons sourds rcnlxrkably like Robert Fr-ipp.$rhen he doesn't {,ant t o : r n s r v e ra q u e s t i r m ,h e ' l l o f f e r u p s o n e rn"vsteriousnon sequitur or Zen ko:u'r.Tfyou t N t o p r c s sv o u r q u e r y ,h e ' l l j u s t b c c o m e m o r e ' n r : r r r i o J . .l \ r r , r ' - r " d o e . r\ i . r h < u r r J ,r l r i E messageis clerr: "tsack ofl honbre." That s ' ' r e , , f r h , F r - r r h ; n g .\ o L l , r r r J l ' n u r B i l ) c i b b o n s a n d i t ' s i r l l i s p e n s a b l ei n d c a l i n g u , r t h him. Which blings us to our second Essential F i c t A b o u t B i l l ) .C i b b o n s :
2)HE'S ALWAYS I.ITE Pfepnrations for the dxv's phoio shoot had begun brigh! and ealll insidc the b:rncls hotel suitc. Lightinggeaf and backdrops wcr-c positionecl \\.ith cxaciing care, the models made up, coiffed .rnd corscted to allttl jng pcrfcction. Then everybody scttled in for t h r e c h o u r s o f a n a c t i v i t y w e l l k [ o $ l 1t o e ' e f ) o | l < \ i r l i r r h . Z Z I n D c l r ' t p :\ r r l i S f , ' l B i l l l r " F o r a l v h i l e ,i f s o l r e t h i D g u a s s c h e c l u l e d for two o'clock, $,e'd telltsill,v it wns scheduled for-trvclve o'clock," says a ZZ Top staffcr. "But Billytl be latc an5val'. He ligured that one out rcal quick." Dusty Hill ;s the lirst band nember to arr-ir.c.Hc chuckles kno*,ingly ol lcalning
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tha!, e\'enthough he'sover an hour late,he has still beat out l rank and Bill,v.A squat,amiable biker,Hill is the only memberofZZ Top who really livesup to the band's'good o1'boy" image.He'slike one ofthose ruddy,hughing cavalierspaintedby Dutch masterFrank Hals, onlythis cavalierpreferschainsand black denim.Dusty seemsp€rfectlycontentto hang a while and passthe time of day.He shows one ofthe modelshis abdominalscars,the result ofaccidentallyshootinghimselfa few yearsback.He chatsabouthis kids,relating with disn'rayhow his 16 year-olddaughter went through a New Kids on the Block phase and he had to bring her alongto a localgig to meether idols."Soyou'rethe New Kids onthe Block?"Dusty demandedofthe wholesome teen act."well, howdy,l'm the Old Fart Down the Street." ZZ Top'sbassistdeclareshimselfhappier than a heifer in heat overthe band'snew albumand recordlabel."RCA had Elvis Presle].too,"he remindsme.'1\ndanythingto do with Elvis,I like." Drummer Frank Beardis next to arrive. Like Hill, he'swearingcowbol'bootswith sihcr toe ornamentsthatwould probablybea tad overwhelmingevenon the hoodofa large automobile."I didn't realizethat...mmtnm. beautywason the scheduletoday,"he muscs, ingTinr andSusie. rherwo ZZ Toperres "pl engagedfor the day'sphotographicneeds. Apparently,Mr Beardhasmuch to do with rhebr "ld5 verbalhumor-rhepunsandfisque doubleentendresthat run throughtheir song lyrics.Anfenndis particu)ar)yrich in that
department."CoverYourRig" is a pa€anto safesex,castasa l€ctureon the importanceof motor vehicleinsurance."FuzzboxVoodoo equatesthejoys offine gritar equipment with...aq shucks,6gureit out for yourself "we all write the ]),Ticstogether,"saysHill, "but Frank reallyshineson 'em pretty good." "Um, sowe'rewaitingfor Billythen?" Bearddeadprnr. :en.ingthe nrounLing lerels ofrestlessness andexrsperationin the room. Muchlarer.Billycibbonsu hisksinrorhe suile.The fir"r\urpriseis hou incrediblv rhin he is.He speakswith a sort ofnasalprecision that contrastssharply with the slou',deepTexan drawlthat issuesforth from mostofthe other mellir the room.His ardvaltriggersa flurry of activiq..When Billy'saround,therealways seemsto be l0Othingsgoingonat once.He's perperu;lly in themidsrofoneor mo-ephone calls.H€'s forever fishing into piecesofluggage scatteredaroundthe room,pullingout props andvisualaidsmore-or-less relevanttothe businessathand..He reachesinto onecaseand handsme.-.oh, sweetJesus, Bo Diddlel"sgllitarl
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Itwas givento Billyby Bo himselfandis thoughtto be olle ofonly four suchguitarstn existence."Checkit out;' Billy €ncourages, profferingthe red, rectang!lar-bodycretsch madefamousbythemighty father oithe backbeat.It's like that scenein the video for "GimmeAllYour lovin'," where Billy and the boystossthe keysofthe Eliminatorhot
rod to the dazzledgasstationattendant.My handtrembleswith reverenceasit passes o\-erthe strings,tunedto openD. Billy winks and produces..-gulp...still anotfierone of Bo Diddley'spersonalred cretsches:the cuNaceousax mainly playedonstageby Bo',sconsort,the Duchess.It too was a gift to Billy from Bo and is one ofonly four such instrumentsmade."Fortunately,theseguitars were sentto Ohio for repair,prior to the burningofthe cretsch factoryin Cincinnati," explainsBilly,who isjust asobsessiveabout guitar historyeshe is abouteverythingelse. "Sothey live on." Billr i. equalllfondofgivinggiftsa" he i. olreceiving them.ln our time together,he bestowson me abaseballcap from the storied bluesjoint calledthe Henry SwingClub, and a rare photo ofElmore James.(Elmore was a key spiritual and musicalinfluence onAnrennd;Gibbonsusedthe bluesman's openE tuning [E B E GsB E] or the song "Everlthing.") It's all highly flatteringand f:scinaring. buronesenses rharrll (hegifrs. guitars,phonecallsand souvenirsnapshots are partof acarefullyorchestrateddiversion. The main point ofthe whole thing seemsto be to deflectattentionfrom the thin, frdgety man who playsguitar for ZZ Top-to keep you from gettingtoo close,askingtoomany questions.He'slike a stagemusician.Start actinglike you'regettinga beadon the real Billy Gibbonsand...whoosh, hoo-boy,here's anothershinygewgawflashingin your eyes. This is morethan aployfor keeping journalistsatbay.It is alsothe keyto the entire imagethat ZZ Top have masterfullycreatedfor themselvesin the years since1983'sElimlndtor album.InaZZ Top videq the gnarlycars, bodaciousbabesand other emusements serveto draw attention away from the threemusicians.When the boysdo appeatthey're oddly incognito:hidden behindding.ycomic SantaClausbeards,dark glasses andhats,like bad guyson the lam in some !rftles
ll-movre.
lt s an
inspiredsend-upofthe whole MTV pop process, which generally puts the artist'skisserfront and center,a manufactured personality carefully "positioned"to seemas uniqueand distinctiveas possible.This ratherthan recordedmusic iswhat the musicbusinesstook to sellingin the MTV era: Madonna.Michael.Prince. The geniusofZZ Top is that they found a way to pafticipatein this wicked commercialgamei('hile simultaneously denying it. They deliberatelyleave the "herospace"blank in
'
thcir videos and album art. Accorcling to them, ofcolrrse, the effect wesn't nearly so cortrived. "\ re didn't do any
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oi thnt stuffto create ar image," irsists Dust_v Hill, who recounts the famiiiar stoly ofnorv he and Billy gr-el,r,theirbeards unbeknorvnst t o o n e e n o t h e r d u r i D g t h e b a n d ' s1 9 7 6 1 9 7 9 hiatus. "we brought what we liked frolr the real world irto our \.ideos. \\re alread! had the Elinirator car;wc didnt build it for rhe video. And usingthe girls, thatu,as a real easy d e c i s i o nt o m a k e . I d i d n ' t h e a r a ' n o ' v o r t an\.where on that one." Xlaybe so. But Bill!' Gibbons' persistentl), keen visualsense has a lot to do with \r'hy i h a i c o m b i n a t i o no f i n a g e s w o f k s s o w e l l . Rock stals havc been posing\\'ith hot cars and prett) girls ftom Da,vOnc. Usually it's extremel,v tacky, but \r'ith ZZ I'op, someho{. it isn't. cheap, yes. Tacky, no. They bring a i r n n r r o r h er h i r g - a . r n i q u e lrrrJ "fc:'i..renrirl brard oflegativc coo1.
?ut it do\,r,nto Billy's ar.ttraining or !o the psychedelic times ir which he came up, but he was hip to the idea ofrock staging and visual n - e \ c n r J r i o n! e r y e a f l l o n . H i s f i | . - rr e c o f d i r r H band, thc Mo\.ing Sideu'alks, performed rvith an elaborate coitraption that produced a phosphorescent rain shower at e stratcgic point in the set. "Thatwas actually a notion ftom Jimi Hendrixi' Bill"vexplains, "as we acccptcd the openingslot, follorved by the Soft Machire, on Hendrix's 1968 tour He recommended that \\,e continu€ this entertrininfi sort of appearance." Jimi's ad\.icewas certainlytakcn to hcar1.It wasn't longafter ZZ Top's fonnation ir 1969that Billy's art enperiments began focusing on guttarc thenselves. "l'd say that started l,r,ayback in th€ early Seventies,"Dusty Hill recalls."I remember me and 8i111'dloveupto Dallas,where they had a lot ofpawn shopsback then, and he spied this old Telecasterbass.l think we onl]. p: d 90 bucks for it a real steal. And \,r,hen\,r,edrovc
bnck,we picked up these t.|vo girls hitchhiking, and that's ho*' we u'rote the song'Precious and Grace'...butthat's another ston', 'Anlnl'ay, that bass u'as the lirst guitar $'e e\-cr modified. when I p1a).edit, I noticed that I eirher had the volume knob w i d e o p e n o r e l s ec o m p l e t e l v offbctwccn songs. So \1-etook that knob offald got one of t h o s el i t t l e w i n d o w c r a n k s like for the vent r-indow on an older car and put that or. If]'ou slapped the crank, the volume u'ent all the wav on or all the way off. So I'd have to say that window crank was the stert of it a11." Everyone knows what followed a whole sick series of fur trimncd, munmy wrapped bizarrely accoutered monstrosities. ZZ Top's stage scts got increasingllr demented, too. tsy the time the fgds tour rolled around in 1976,they rvere sharing their stage with crttle, buzzards and oth€r critters native to the Lone Star state. what was most brilliant about the u.hole shtick was that south€rn boogie bands weren't supposedto have a v i s u a l s e n s e .c u y s w h o s i n g about "lookin' for some tush" usually aren't conscious of color schemes. Humblc bluesmen arel,I't supposed to have a marketing strateg-v.Yet h€re they !',ere, an absolut€ly ass kickin' Texas boogie band rvith a flair for poking ironic fun at itselfand its surroundings. As the Seventies turned into the Eighties, this flair was to prove Zz Top's savinggrace, But nowwe're tr€adingon da[gerous gr'ound. Tine for another indispensable fact
aboutBiLI_v cibbons.
4) IIEVER BBI]IG UPIHEOUTTAWS III HISPRESEIIGE Billy's thumb lands squarelvon the "stop" button on m)' tapc recordcr "Don't cvcn /nention those nalnes," he cautions, brining his shagpx'visage up close to mine. I've just mlde th€ rnistake ofnlluding to the southern rock boom ofthc Se\.crties, obscNing that one tine trM radio kings like the Marshall Tucker Band and the outlews have fallen by th€ comm€rcial u'ayside, l! hereas ZZ Top have endured. "I think it's just because we still love the music," Billy offers, "both individually and collectivcl],. wc still cnjo,v tryingto g'uess what the other g1ry'sgointjto do next. our t a s ! e i s b r o a d , h a v i n g b e e nb r o u g h t u p i n Texas u'here there's not much else to do except play provided yo have a porch. ure
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e r j o \ e d c o u n t r \ ' . s o s l c l , . I e s u sh, i l l b i l l ) , r n d c s t ) c c i r l l \ b l u c s . \ \ J cc h o s c b l u c s . r so n e o i r h c colncrsroncsol our\o(rnd, antl th.rtsrilrcr" Il!t brck rt thc daNn of rhe Eighties, Z Z T r ) f ! l i d r r r d i c . t l s o t r r cr v o u l d s : r r , : r s r c r i h s i o u s t h i r r g :t h e r ' s t a l t c c lc o n r b i r r i r l s 'Ir . si.l , . r - i , I . r , r , . r . . . l r ' , . i ' ir ' d i s c o s v r t h s c q L r c n c cesn r l p o u r d i n g L LL u I n r : r c h i n ep l L l s e sI.' c o t l c N b o r i e \ \ ' t h i s . r sr r s c l l o u t . r c l n i c r l c o n r l c l c i . r l c r s l r - i n ,r l e o r c r ' ) r x r k i r go n c l c r v i r n p o r t r n t l i r c t :
5)Bil.tY GtBB0ltS REA|ty ut(ES THAT IIISC|I STUFF
llLrfirit fhc dr\"s Ihon) sIoor Uilh mLrst h r \ ' e I L L t, \ c e o f t t r s c s A l l T h l t S h c \ \ ' r r l 1 t s o n t h c s t c | c o e t l c e s t . rh L r n d f c dt i r n c s .O b l i v i o t r s t o r L I tJ| o a n s o f p | o t e s t ,i ) i 1 i n g t l l l . r f t c m p t st i ) h i c l et l r r :c a s s e t t cf r ! n r h i u r . t h e n r r n j u s t / r a d t o h c e I t h e t c l c c p l rc l c c t l o l c s s r c - l i e d c l . r n c e t r . r c k o Y c f r n c l o \ e f r g | i r . E . r c ht i n l c t i r r t drunr rnichinc gfoolc st:utedup, heil lccr' .rf f rr)\'inglI belrenth his sc|rgglv I'e.rrr1. ''Dincr nrusic o f t e . e d s o n l c r h i n Ft-h x r n r r r r I o c k t . r n sc h o s l ]i o t r o f e c o g n i z c , "h c s . r | so l Z 7 l ( I r ' s c r r l \ ' l i s h t i c s s o l r i cs l r i f i . ' Ancl that s crtrrn](, heLiriDcss.\\Jc.rttenrpt l e m r i n h c l r : n o t o r l i i r t h c s t L r d i ob u r l i \ . o e s s e l 1 .t l u t l e v c r l s o r o t i c e d d r . r td r u c c n r u s i c i s r e r v h e u r . r lp a r t i c u l . r f l \ \ \ i t h f c g r r f d t o t h c b o t n ) u r c r r d .T h e l y r i c s ' iE h , $ e l l , \ \ e d c c i ( l eo n t h i t l r t e r : s l i r l t h e i n r c n d c d e l l e c t ( l . u l c i n g i f \ ' r r u f e g o o d o r t r \ . of c c t
s o u r u c h t h e b e t r e r .I ] t r t o L l rD r a i ni n t c l c s t i : p o i n t c d t o r i ' e l c lt h e h e : r ri r e s s o f d r u r c cr r L r s i c . f . / r 4 p n r , q/ r i sl o n c o n o u d y . l T h e l r w s o l r n d . ' Pur it d(^yr to the srmc Nr|pcd, c|oss'1.|| (Ir,.r:rr,, 'r.l:r 1 ,.i,.:.,ir i r l r t op e r t s r o r n e l e ( r r i c g ( i t i r . \ \ ' h i ( b c \ e r \!r\'\()u clfc to r\p1.rinit, thc nusic.rlblcnd on t/itirdtr,]" rnd llif|l'u|rrcr p|ovell tlrc t ) c f l e c r s r ) u n d hr r k l o r f h c A n l c f i c r n S . r t l r d r v N i g h t : t l c n t l o l f i p s n o f L i l r ' l l i \ \ 1 ) r l if o f t h c D r c nr o t h \ ' l i f g u i t e I t o , e n d s n r o o t h , s o p h i s t i c r t c dd . l n c cb c r t s i o f t h c l : r c l i e s'.l b u h n o r r ' ,r r e c l i d s c c r r t o g c t m o r c f c n r r l c h n s iuound th.rt tiure. Drsr] Hill lllo{ s.'BLrt ,l ...1..".l r "r ..i .. ' B e e r l ) r i r l k c r s & H c l l R . r i s c I s ,r n c l t h i t i s krrrq ol nrore gLr\: E!er1 fhoLrgh .r gill h.rnrl did rtr.rt s o n g .I c l o nt t h i n l r e l o s t l n \ n l l l c f r n s , b u l s c d e t i n i t e h d i d g c t n r o l e l e u u l e f . r n s .1 h t s o m e n | e , r l h s e c l n c dn ) l i k r ' R o u g h I l o \ . ' S o n r co l c l e rZ Z ' l i ) p f L r r so f b o t h g c D d c r s l c r c s l i g h t h m i l l i d L r rt h c b r r d s t c c h r o p h r s c C N nr t r l L r c s r r i uc n r l ) m c et i i s c o. r r d r r o tl o s e h i s s o l r l ' iB u t ! rg \ r ! r s d c c p l r s t c c p c di n h l u e s h i s t o r l i s ( l i b L r o u sL n o \ r s t h a t b l L r c ss t a | t c r lo u i , r si l . n l ( c r n u s i c ,D o c t u f l r r ln u s i c . d , r n c e h r l lr n d b e l l o o r n n L r s i c -a c o u r p r n i ( n ri n i n t o \ i c . r t i o r ' r t r e l u r l e r o i r 1 t r , f c o u r s el.t. .s h i r c s i l l t h o s e thirss \!ith nroclefu dllrc,.'mLrsic.So rrh\' frult ZZ'lbt tofcoInLriningiheur? B e s i d e sb, r r h r , dl$ n ol the Niueti.,s thc b.rnd h:rd :rl|e.rdv s t r f t c d f c t h i l r l t i n gi t s r t ) p r o l c h . ''Eyen ( ith Rr.r,rl|f. \re $ inled ro go brcli i r ] t dd | l r s f | o m t h c p : r s t . \ i | s D u s r ! H i l l ' \ \ c r1,.,1 , .1 . , ' , , , 1 , - , . . j r , 1 . 1 . i , r . . '
ll97j:rl TruJ lnrnl)ft,s. \\t got pre|h tcchno on zlnrrnrrrr{,. Jlrd .'VicrlLTmcr. $ hich I cnjofed. lrl,rlr '\r r '.1 Irr .1.'.rr" r'r.r tostrrt LrsiDgthetcchnoclcmcntrlittlc nro|c spifinlil\. $Je strrted to {o in th.rt rlircction on f i r . v r l c r ' .b u t T l l o n t t h l n k \ \ ' e i l o r . t l l t h c \ \ x \ l r . , ' , , ' r , l ' . n r ' r$ l r , i l . , , j . l r l r . r l - \ . r ' n r a d ei t . ' t . r h c . rs o n gl i k c ( l o ! ' e f Y o u f R i e . I r ' s I sLrri$hl ar/'SblLrcs.nre Lrscclto rlo onc oftho.. , r . r e - r r l ' . r r ' , ' , 1r ' , . , r , , , . . k | , l ' r . - \ \ , . . . r , . l, l r s r n t h p o f b i n d N i r s o l i r \ ' . s : r v sB i l l \ . ' l i ! r t \\ e chose !o lollo\' fhe nl.r1r. Dlrnv rcLlLrcsts b \ ' l o g i o n so l Z Z T o p t r r r s f o r x f e t L r f nt o somcthing closof to r,-f.r /loril,, r.\ thru , ' V i t r " l r r r n c rA . n d t h r t I n e : r n ro r r er h i n e : n e \ c f N d d r f i , r f i b c h o r d .A l s o . n o p f o S f : u r r n r i r r g '.1'r1 .( r,,rr.(.14J,.. ,r .1. ts,r r. f r r , f r I b r c k g r ' o L r n di l, r ' o ! l i s t c f c l o s r l y r ' o m , l f i n d t h c s o L u r do f e l e c t r o r i c k e v b o r . d In kee|ing $ ith thejr renrID to rllusicrl r o o i s ,A n r c , r , r dn x s n i r r r e d i n b o n o r o f t h e N l e x i c r n b o r i l c l l r d i o s t l t i o n s t h L 'T o | | e r : l i s t e n e dt o l s y o u n g l r o r s _ i n l l L L c n c cfsr l n r the dirs l)el;le $e evc. st.utcd plilring. Billv l o l L r r t e c L sT . o nrrke rhe fecofd. the i)rld j o o ] . n e \ ' e dt o A r ( l c r 1 rS t L r d i o si n \ I e u r I h i s , d r c b i n h p l . r c eo f m . r n v r Z Z T o p f c c o r d . T o g o n i t h t h i s c h o i c eo l s r f i p p e d d o $ r r . ! i n g , . 'i l'tl. ,r. di l.'1,.,r'i,. riL.| ,fi ,.,'. | ,t\ir,r. \..,1\ , ,. rr .'i h i h i r . r . r. , : ' . . \ , . , " | 'r l"'rl .lir., L( rl.,r'irl l ' r r r, i r t t r q . l r r l r . , ) r r r ' . r -r , - r ,
Malshall .Il4P-1 tube preamp xnd a Peavey txbe preamp. Ior a iked cabiret sourd, he went more vintage. "Frol11Brent Magrano's cu;tar OasisofHuntington Beach,I pfocured a sO-watt Marshall harkeningback to 1964, with two gree[back Celestions. The other alnp I u . e d i . p | o b a b l r t h e r n o 5 rc u r i o u s :r F e n J e r Dunl Professional.Now considered extremely rarc due to its lowproduction Dumber the Dual Pfofessiorlal {-as Fender's frrst arnp to offer t$'o speakers.It continued inthe line after1949 or'50 under the name of'Slrper.'Ai the time, F e r d ," n r d . r d u r l - r e . l e d . r p, t e " l c r l e d t h e Dual ?rofessional. so \,r.henitcanetineto nane this amp, somebodyrcached into a box and grabbed a fistftrl ofleftover nnme plates sayin€i Dual Profcssional.Later on, moneywas spent to lnlke up nameplatesthat said FelderSuper" Despite his theories about Einstein's closet, there's no ['ay a \.intage guitar hound like cibbom could stick exclusivelyrvith his EsqLriresthrough a whole album's $,ofth of recordings.The song "Breakawa]t' he admi6, "was actually performed on a 1936National 12fr et lstecl dcorrsti.] with a Ba&ls pickup attached. It was close miked, itwrs recorded direct, dndit was amplified. The echo\r,as added after the fact bl' our engineet Mr Joe Hard)a' whcrc docs agut,likc Billy Gibbons get inspiration for his songs?Well that's one reason why he's so fond ofgifts. They provide instant subject m:rtter: "I u'as the luckt' rccipiert ofa very rare stonp box bl Marshallcalled Supa Fuzz-also a gift from
the coll€ctor Br€nt Magnano- That becrme the inspiration for the song'Fuzzbox Voodoo.' Although it does, indeed, as you discerned, ha\,€ two meanings," lnspiration struck rgnin the da,\'after ZZ Top appeared at the \\lC- Handl' Blues Awards in Men1phis, where they presented Entertainerofthe Year honors !o Buddy Cuy. "It was th€ \€rtr next day thnt mtr neon sign called't$,o foot door an' lny chin whiskers, that is-drew the attention s ith an air o f a s t r a n g e r , "B i l l , vn a r - r a t e w ofrnystery. "It \{-asa gentleman who took a noment to recotjnizc zz Top as being M e n r t h i . ! J o f ' r e d s o n s .K n o w i n g w e l o v < t h e S o u t h ,t h e b l u e s a n d M e m p h i s ' r ' a t h e r s p e c i a ll a b e l c a l l e d S t a x ,h e a s k c d i f h e s , o u l d accept his gift to us: It was a pack ofmetches, the old fold-over cardboafd kind, from stax Records. It included the Stax logo and the slogan,'where Ev€rythingIs Everything.' That becane our co[ceptualidea fof the song called 'Everything.' The paradox there is th:rt, while the u'ords include everything, the nusic is very sparc: drurns o[ly, u'ith Mr Hill playingjust one note on a Hanmond B - J . T h i s B - J . b y r h e \ v a \ ' .i s t h e v e f ! h i 5 t o r i c instrumentbeloDgingto Mr BookerT. Jones. I t ' s t h e o n c t h a t u , a su s e d o n ' G r e e n O n i r n s ' and a1lthose records. "In the middle of'Everything' there's a guitar solo that emplo]'s the Tex$ Lightnin' Hopkins'I'm rot-gorna-put-my-hnnd-onthe neck-I'ln just gonna thrash it'technique.
At the concllrsion ofthis rather ironic track, evcr'lthing docs, indecd, become cve{.thing. There's El ore Janes stvle slide, the sound of a nrule which we were given by a famer who had a tape recorder, a cowbell, congas, a rviDd chine, a cuban fish...so ever).thing beco es everjthing, you see?"
0)lt0r EvElt Bil.tYGtBB0lts cAll AIYIAYS IIAYE EVEBYTIIIIIG "Nakedl" lr's vef\ lJre.Lr.\ of 'leep has li,rrlly cJught up with Bill). cibboN. He's barely able to keep his eyes open. But one last visuel concept .een-. r" h:re lodged it.plffrrml\ in hi. b-ri.r. He wants Cuirdr world's cover girl to disrobe for a llude shot- For the past l0 minutes, he's b e e ny e l l i n g o n e w o r J o v e r a n d o v e r r g a i r . "Nakedl" Tnra, howcvcl, is having none ofit. 'Aw, it'llbe oka]t'he pleads. "You can face backward." "I ain't gittin' naked and facin'any direction." "Halfnaked then." "I alreadyam half naked." "Three-qu:uters naked?" "I aheady am three quarters naked!"
"oh." to reinventZZ Ah,well.will it benecessary Top : l over againfof th€ Ninctics? "Veryprobably;'Billy replies."Very Probabl),."fr.
rurrln rEGEr0s 35st
zcfiAn "This glitar is seen here in the shape ofa'Z'. However it has a folding mechanism thatturns it into the shape of a'V'. It was designed by cibson gritar specialist MatthewKlein and manufactured at the cibson plant."
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"These were a gift from two Russianrockers.They were given to ZZ Top sometimebetween1990 and '92,beforethe BerlinWall camedown.They could probably be played,but we can't seemtofind a cord that 6ts them.We suspect they usea DIN plug insteadofa quarter-inchjack.Very weird. Very Russian-like." -_.
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'A Casioguitar arived on our doorstepone day,with the invitahon to trJ it out. We neverdid, but it looks good.Can'taffordthe batteries."
"The cenesisguitar is a handyitem becauseit's got a coupleofholes cut in the body and it's easy to carry It was manufacturedby someone we don't know Butwe didn't mind. We just dig thosehandyhandles."
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'An Explorerin shape,covered ingauze and featu ng the Sony watchman.Like the Z guitar, the Mummyguitarswere created by Matthew Klein at cibson.They'reusedin the video for 'Sleeping Bag.' "
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"This is a Mexican guitar with 12strings, called a bi?,/bsercfo. Difficult to play,accordingto some.We don't know how we don't know evenhow to tune lt, nor do we chooseto. We enjoy border music-conjunto sounds-and for us,this is a reminder ofwhat we enjoy.It was purchasedin San Antonio, in a music/ furniture storethat has sinceclosed:'
YilATISYEETS "The Viva Las Veg|ls guitffs were created in Meridian, Mississippi, where you can throw dice or go b-vthe Peavey specialq,'guitar shop and say,'Hey, make me a Viva Las Vegas g]litarl' They play quite well, by the way. The hardware was a gilt from an actual slot machine."
OilE.STRIilG GU|TTN "This is kind ofhomemade.It wasa gift from willie the workingman,the engineerat ZZ Top's Tex$ recordingstudio.It still works. Butthere again,we need batteries:'
THEGOOD THE &THEUG1Y ltwtmt
'A rather odd-looking guitar in the flavor oforange. The name 'La warpa' identilies its curved body: it's concave on one side and convex on the other. You can hear this one on'My Head's in Mississippi.' "
FEIIDER IIOUM "Believeit or not, we still havea Jaglurkingin oul stable.This particular instrumentis the secondglitar I everowned,and canbe heardon 'PCH; on Antennd.It featuresa singleSeymourDuncanPearll,Gatespickup inthe bridge positionand a VU meterrvherethe neckpickup probablywould'veexisted.It alsofeaturesa paintingofa Rick surfboard.l don't know what that hasto do u'ith an!'thing but it's there." GUITIN IEGETDS 37
Join Billy
Gibbons on a fabulous od-yssey
across the glq-be r_n sealcn 01 ?
wild., weird and. wond.erful_.ByCHRtsGl[l aUPER BOWL SUXDAYT lggjt I am about to settle into my favorite La-Z Boyto watch thegEmewhen, to my annoyance,the phone rings. Much to nry suryrise, on the line is none other than BillyL Gibbons, liontman for th. acclaimed Texas trio ZZ Top. The band is scheduled to appear atthe half time show, and allthe excitement and hoopla has apparently given cibbons a caseotguitar fever "we're goin'on agxitar safari. Wanna join?" asks the great bearded one. "Does a'53 Les Paul have a coldtop finish?" I reply.
"Good.ZZIop's Rhythmeentour is picking up in EasternEuropeir a few days.Meet me in Moscow.Thursday.High noon." "Wait,"I plead."What arewe hunting?,, "Exoticbreeds.Endangeredbeasts.The A few dayslater,in the aft€rmathofthe creen BayPackers'great victory I find myself on the red-eyerocketto Russia.Steppingout ofthe plane,I scanthe airport waiting room for cibbons,but not r singlepair ofR:ly Bans is to be seen.Suddenly,a sultry youngwoman in a leopard skinjacketcatchesmy attention.
She is holding a sign reading, "'59'Burst, Cheap." This has to be my liaison. The lady leads me to a Mercedes limo a r d o p e n . t h e d o o r ' ._ V ) n a m e i . C o r i n n a . she coos in avoice as sweet as Clapton's Cream-era woman tone. As I settle into the handsomely upholstered back seat, she reaches over and hands me a pamphlet entitled "cibbonics The Officialianglage ofcuitar Connoisseurs." "You'llbe needing this as well," she says, slippingme an envelope filled rvith money from various count es dollars, yen, rnaris and rubles.
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A few minuteslaterwe pull up in front of Boris Kaganov'sAxe Shack.Hoppingout of the Mercedes,Ispy a gnarly,Russian-made sonicsurfboardin the shack'swindow-burnt cheese-ocher 6nish,clamp-mountpickup arrangementand non-innerplanetary connectingjacks."Isn't shefine?"saysa familiar baritonevoice.I turn aroundand there standsBilly F. cibbons in the flesh,hrs beardflappingin the frozenwind. "The girl or the guitar?"I retort. "Both are first class."I kiss my fingersfor emphasis. "Oh dude,theseguitarsare out therel" saysGibbons."Theysound,well-Russian.Of course,there'stons ofthem aroundhere.Step inside.Let's takealook around." As we setfoot insidethe shop,we're met by ComradeKaganovhimself,who leads us to a backroomoverstockedwith sund4 Communistera oddities:Glasnostcasters, Telesputniksand the like.cibbons and I settle into two huge,overstuffedchairs. 'You know,the real reasonI'm hereis to talk to you about'guitarmadness,"'I say. "I'll gladly respondto any inquiry aboutmy particularfave-ravesix-stringthangs;'says cibbons. With that word of encouragementj we are on our way.Awild, bumpyride, for sure. ttUtTAR woRlD What got you startedon your quest for guitars? BiLLY F. GlEEOraSLet's start at the beginning.It was the soundofblues music thatwe heardin the mid Sixtiesthat really centered our interest.When I speak ofblues from this period, it wasnot only American bluesartistsbut the B tish interpretersaswell. That drawsus to one ofthe most recogrizableiconsof Sixties British blues:the John Mayall and the Bluesbreakers album lllruesllleaxerswttn I.llc Clapton,reiecsedin I9651, with Eric Claptonon guitar and the famousphotographon the backcover showingClaptonplayinga sunburstLesPaul and a Marshallamplifier At the time,I had beenplayingFender Esquires,Jazzmasters, Jaguarsand Stratocasters. I! wasmostly a single-coil Fendergame.The LesPaulwaslessthan popularthen.we suspectedthat doublehumbuckingpickupswere the sourceof that Claptonsound.A friend of mine called and said,"I've got an instrumentwith two humbuckingpickups."ltturned out to be a trlyingV That wasour first entry into the humbuckingworld. ow Shortlythereafteryou foundPearly Gateslcrbbons'59sunb:'."stLesPauI Stdnddrd]and,asthey say,the rest is history GIBBOIS Indeed. ow Having foundthe perfectguitar,why did you continueto acquirethem? c:BBOras Pearlyhassuchan unmistakable
characterthatwefelt itwas necessaryto6nd anotherinstrumentwith a similar soundto useasa spareglitar We accumulateddozens ofguitars,but nothingquite matchedher.But insteadof tossingtheseother acquisitions rway.rheykepraccumularing. Ir'san ongoing sagathat neverends. cw what kind ofguitars did you accumulate? clEBOLs Just aboutanlthingthat had thesefamoushumbuckingpickups.Youhad theseoddball,pointy thingslike the I lying "V" and the Explorer Those,too,had great sound.They camefrom 1958andhad taller and skinnierfret wire and a little bit different feel.Then we startedfindingthingsliLe the [Gi6son]ES-5Switchmasterwith not one,not two, but lhreehumbuckersand a toggleswitch with a settingthat says'All:' That'swhen it startedgettingreallywhacked. cW I've heardrumorsthatJimi Hendrix gaveyou a pink Stratocaster backin those days. GIEEOI|S It wasjust beforewe formed ZZ Top.FrankBeardldrummerland Dusty Hill [bossist]were workingin Dallaswiththe
Strat,during our time together. Suddenly,our conversationis interrupted whenCorinnaburs(sinrothe room.'Mr Gibbonsl"sheshouts."Eiwood calledon the cellular phone.He s locateda M issingLink guitarl" "Most exceilent,"repliescibbons."I'm afraidwe'll haveto continueour conversatron at alater date.Why don't we meetup in Halle?" "In the former EastGermany?" "Yougoti'
*+***
It's agreywinter's day in Halle.The temperatureis aboutl0belov zero,not countingthe wind chillfactor As I make my way to the back entranceofthe town's KonzertHall, I'm stoppedby an armed securityguardbrandishingamachineglln. ShakingI flashmy credentials,and he nods and points at a concretedoor Inside,I1n greetedby the sight ofGibbons exhalinga cloud ofsteam."Hey,"he says, choking "Ijust swalloweda mouthful of Tabasco-ridden soup.It took my breath away. I'm lovin' itl" Standingat his sideis atall, thin fellow with a neon-greenSidvicious haircut."Meet Mr. Eiwood Francis,"sayscibbons. Currently employedas cibbons'guitar tech, Francis,explainscibbons, is his chiefconspiratorin guitar madness.Fmncisand cibbons are co-o ginators ofa new approachto guitar designwhich advocatesthe useof "found materials." Executingdesignsfrom their WestCoaststudio, Slab7 Studiosa,they plan on unleashingtheir Pacifiko modelson an unsuspecting public soon. "Welcometo Halle,"says Elwood."We'verenamedit 'He11e.' " "Hellevapiacethey got here,"I deadpan. "We'rethrashed,brother,"sayscibbons. "This is our frfthgigin a row.It's so cold and desolatehere.Buthey,the local folks are trying.They'remakingattemptsto havea goodtime. Can'tbeatthat.We could be on a lO day.un with enthusiasmlike this." At cibbons' pronpting, the three of us convenein atinybackstageroom that curently serwes asstoragefor Gibbons'and g!irar collecrions. Franciseverexpanding Guitarsand ampsare stackedto the ceiling. In a maherofminu(es.rhe Gibbonicsis flying fastand furious.(The guitarsyou are now goingto readaboutare real,Even the names arethe same,so protectyour wallet.)
AmericanBlues,and myband,the Moving Sidewalks,had beenhired to opensome showsfor Jimi Hendrix.At that time I said "Here'sthe masterofthe Stratocaster"That domainreallybelongsto him. Here was an exampieofa playerwho not only developed someskills on chord structureand new chord positioningsfor rock musicbutwas alsoreally 5queezing thingsout ota .impleguiraranL amplifiersetupthat had notbeen written aboutin anymanual.As far asI know,he was lhe firsrexponent oi pla)ing a Srrarocasrer in the "in-between"toggleswitch setting. At that time, trendersupportedwhat he wasdoingasan artist.He really didn't mind playingnew,out-of-thebox guitars.Fender ***** wassendingout stacksofthem; I remember ow You'vehad a number ofcustom guitars he oncegorl7 diifefentcrrtonslrom rhem. builtoverthe years.What was the frrst? Theywere comingfast and furiousat him cIaBo s DonaldSummers,the bass with newguitars,buthe had a few oldiesand playerfor the Moving Sidewalks,built guitars goodies. I acquired the pinkone.a lare-Fifiies in his garage.He had someofthe first unusual
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hot-rod glitars. He was a mnster-flyingV bassesand all kinds of odified npplications. Not onlv tastcfully done, but functionrl.Irom there things feallv started gettingbizarre. Gw Describe some ofyour famous custom glitars aDd the ideas behind them. ElwooD FnAr|Cts The stuff from thc Scientifi co Musico Technographique companl' down South inVirginia is full-tilt, weird, Bigsby-styled Forties era design discoveries. clBEo S Oh yeah. Most weird. And rhen there's the str arlge work of flutfiier] :ames Ttussart: all lrench-made full customs, nude in Paris, inspired by the metal-bodied designs ofrhe l93ot Nationals, only modiFed into a soft of Fender€sque hot rod. His new Rust-O-Rama corrosion technique is stunning and just as sutprising a.s, sa)',fie invention ofthe metal airplane. Sounds a.s smooth as a Bary White recording. The new House ofJB guitars from the House ofJB Customs are also $eat- All natural-6ber composition and complete rccklessness when it co es to observing speed limits. Firle pearl "inla)"'forthe fashron conscious...aswe all are- Call him. FnA Cts The Delta Blues Museurn's custonr "Muddl.wood" is seeing quite a bit ofaction on the ZZ Top Contine[ta] Safari Rhythmeen tour A mostgenerous loan and a most inspilational rvar c1ub. clEBoxS Yeah, all ofour olle-off, ZZ Top six-string el€ctric Spanish guitars nnd bassesare outfitted for 24-hour fleld use. Eventhe special axes fabricated for MTVvideos dp with tone terror- They're all equipped with some badassmonstrous tone generators from Seynour- Duncan\ line. The Dunc|ln Antiquities absolutely smoke. Makes all the differcnce in thes€ rare, off'the wall customs. cW What is the most bizarre ax in your lineup? c l E B O r S C e r t a i n l yo n e o f t h e most bizarre slabs lrtely are any ofthe imports being bootlegged out of India l.lllder the rame "Givson." Amftzing. FRAiCTS I've €totmy Givson a l a p s t e e l .O n l y g o e s t o , , 8 . ' ,M u s t b c something to it. lo|BBOtaS Ifyou can score one ofthe civson Esquires in Pyramid Purple, get a haifdozen, mixed. What t h e y g o n n a s a ) 'i n D a l l a s ' c e p t ," P l a y i t , brother!" ow WlTat are ]rour most recent acquisitions? FnA CtS A paif ofBond, as in James tsond, glitarc offered b]'
h a t b o r k r o b r i r s e e t h r o J g h c l e a r .. i n g l c . cutaway, factorv-installed deluxe machine heads and a fake gator-print pressboard case, with handle. cW ls there some sort ofmodus operalldi to thjs habit ofacquisition? FFAtaCIS Search and destroy. GIEBO S Scatt€rshot. c w H r \ e r n y o a r r i ( ' u h f l v \ t r a n g e .c u s r r i c or di\.ine transrctions gone down? clB3OtlS Yeah. A transaction did take place at Second-Hand Joe, in Johannesburg, SouthAfrica. Elwood keen-eyed a clap trap tin shack down a side a1leyen route to the Jo-burggig. The signage showed a large painted hand, paln1-sideoutstretched, next to the number "2" and the name Joe with n homen1adeoutline ofa Telecaster Killer lind. Six new in-the-box cibsor ES-295s,allgold with humbuckers and tags, eight left-handed fake Strats fronr the Philippines, maple neck, new in box as well, plus three cibson anglef r o n r r t e r e o a m p . . e l s on e w i n r l r r - b o \ . A l . "new:' from Second-Hmd Joe. No straps.
Gulfcoastcuitars in Florida.We'relooking forwardto exploringtheextremeon this pair, asnot only arethey obscurebut from England aswell.Asure plus.Keith Richardsis from Enfiland...the coolest.And thesestickshaveno fl ets,which means,ofcourse,no wrong notes, Gottahaveitl crsBo S Gil Southworth[o/Souf/irorrh GuitdrsinBethesdd, Marylan{ dugup a coupleof MelodyMak€rs.They'refrne not "Givsons,"though,unfortunatel).. They're C i b . o nr,r o u n do ) o r ' o 3 .R i r h l , u r . r f i n i s h i n pure lacquer,extremelyrar'etortoiseguard
F B A r | C t s Y e a h I. l i l r J o e .H c r o o km ! d u u g \ . o w W h r l r f e r h e r a r e s ra n d o d d e s rr x e s i n your possession? G,BBoras Well, the absolute nost weird are the Heliumzz. The)., well...almost levitate. They've gotthis inner bladder with a check r a l v el o a d i n g s p i g o t ' o r f o r c e t h r u . r i n j e c r i o n o f h e l i u m o r o t h e r g a s e o u sc h e m i c a l s .T h e instruments hai.e a lhin skinled body membrane in place ofthe mofe traditional wood body. The result r-emainsnearl_v unlnanagerble. They're neck-heaq', the bodies undulate and ffex unpredictabll', and the1.have
a tendencyto want to float awa\'. OW What oneguitar would )rouconsider the Holy crail? FaA cls I believ€it's probablyonc's "first" iNtrument. That'susuatlyrhe firestarterAin't nothin'like that first time. GIEAOl.S Most definiteb,.First time's the killer Ofcourse,there'salways,always solnethingaroundthe comer GW What's the bestguitar you\e ever owned? FRAXCISAll of 'em. ClBBoxs Pearly. cW Describesomeofthe guitarsusedfor the makingof x,qyrftrneen. F'lAxcts This oughtabe good.There'sa bulch, Brougham. GfBgOtfS Yeah,theRhJtl neengot mucho.First trlck cut with Pearly.'Nuff said. Then,lproducerand recordingengincerslMr. JoeHardy and Mr C.L. "c-Mane" Moon suggest€d I slamon my'55 cibson Les Paul Goldtopwith P-90pickupsto match rhe famollsphoto ofMuddy waters in Chess Studios. FRAl|CIS Delux€ diversion. clBEotas Allrightl Yeah, P-9O...rear pickup onlyl Crackin'illto the track " B a n g B a n g " o n t h e ' 5 5 e r . . s e r i a ln u m b e r 6 0091. Hardtail. Then it was on to a 1956 Fender Esquire, tracks four and live. Barbecued. FRAI|CIS The Howlin' Wolf Silvertone with brilt-in speaker..nake that "Silver Tone,"'cuz it's actually a Teisco. It's the one seen on the Howlin' Wolfboxed set. Devilish itemcl3BO||S Some Gretsch [-Bo Diddley's 1960 rectdnglcl, some coldtop alld some more Pearly. FnAXCIS Mostl_vPearly. GlB3O[S Got tol FAAICIS Lots ofthis stuff from ,Riythmeen is mysteriousJike, because those lou'dou'n, substrata tunings chase the character lcirbons tLmedseveral ofhis guitars down to C /or a ftw songs, virft .008 strings, no l€ss.l ctEFors No doubt. And Elwood's specialty tunings truly make the most frmiliar glitar a stranger! Lowdowr in GWWhat are sone other equipment finds your fans can check up on? cIBBOXS Uh, the Bixoric Expandora pedal-an unmerciftil orange squeezer-of tone. And va gotta have the ZVex effect pedals.El€gftnt. Theycome wrapped in agas station shop rag!Addsto the effect. Airline Dan at Airline Guitars in Houston, Texas,has created a vvorking modelof another Slab 7 Studios design:the MissingLiok. Aw, manl No description :rttempted. FRAl|CIS The Roadrunner SLrpersonic fuzz box- That's from Roadrunner cuitars it'r Paris. And it'sjustgood, old thick fuzz. Hell, get it all. Gw Any xdvice for the passionate player'i E o T H D i : r n - r . . . r 1 _r eg o b u 1 o u r - e c o r d . again. [uproarious ?aug,htcr] +*+tt Ol1ceagain, the conversation is interrupted. Showtime. cibbons, HilLand Beard trke the strge and proceed to rock the East Cermans to
t
9 -
PAWN sf{OP
Ah, Munich charmingmountainoutpost ofthe Bavalial republicand headquatersfor Europe'sfrnestbreweries.The air is literally perfumedwith the bodaciousbouquetof bee[,I'\'e receivedinslructionsto meetMr, Biily in his hotel room.As I knock on his door',it swingsopen,and there is cibbons sitting in a hard-backedchair,talking on the telephone.Strewnacrosshis bed are sundry CDs Barkmarket,Reef,Ncil Young'sredd Man soundtrackand a feu'old PaulButterfield BlLresBandreleases, "Let's see,"saysGibbonsinto the mouthpiccc."Pearlt'Gat€s.She'sgot pedigree, celebritystatus,wasplayedat the SuperBowl. How much you think I canget for her?" " D o nr d o i r l l \ e l l . u - e \ r l i r g t h e r e c e : \ e r from his hand and harging up. chucklesGibbons. "That r\.asSotheby's," "Don'tworry. I justwanted to mttle their cage. I've no intention ofpartingwith Pearly." I am relie\€d,to saythe least.It's hard to imaginea ZZ Top albumthat won'tbe $aced with Pearb,'spresence.And so,we proceedto our final round ofquestioning.
***** cw Mr Billy, what canyou tell us ofyour firstg!itar-the "first one"*and its effecton cteeons the "effect"is the $.ofo, I -' Man, Christmas Da)',high noon, the I unwrapping,and by sundownthe full-trlt o ' . l r h - . l J p p i n cl T h " - e l f e c r "t o o \ t h e
electricityfrom the body to guitarthrough amplifierand on into atmosphere. There wasno tulnin'back asfar asthe "effect" \rvas concerned.Nor moi, ow Which ofthe glritarscurrentl]'being madeare the classicsoftomorrow? clBBoras I don't reallyknow,butthe tone will tell the tale.The BigT. Andersonoutfit of california meticulouslymanufacturesa mrssively moringmrchine.Sodoe"Gib.on. Sodoeslender And Len McRaeand Haftley fPearey]havea real hot stean enginecrankin' stuffout ofthe heartofMississippi.The real sleepers:rrcthemade-in-the-darkspecials by pla)'ers,themselves. EddieVanHalef's shop-workapplicationsha\-eenrichedthe popularityof pe.sonalizingan instrumentand goneinto the productionJineswith amazing cw What is the ugliestguitar!,ou'veever beholden?And the mostbeautiful? clBBoias Ah...Oneandthe same.Don Leadyfrom Austin,fionting $ritar choreswith the Tail cators,snaggedthis one uptight.He hasa custom-madebolt-togetherthat we saw backstageat ".Iimmy's,"down in Ne{'Orleans. Sortofa cryptic "EssenceofJaundiceGreen" and a purple and white swirled pearlscratch plate.Bassman Keith LFcrgirsonl referredto it asreminiscentofheartwonnsalld grapejelly. A new contemporarybeauty, ow Ifyou had only $I00 to spendon an ax, whatwould you bu]' and why? ctEBoxs I'd be \r'illin'to throw down !
"C" on any soJidbody outfitted u'ith a reaF position pickup. Don't even have to work. Grocery sack for a case,some spare change for a couple ofRadio Shack leads and a furious fuzz box. Killer combo for your stack of grecnbacks. cw whal i. rhe cheapesrIno\r erpensive g!itaryou've ever bought? clBBotas Cheapest and most expensive? Plobably a pair ofhomemades picked up at auction. They came through the Sotheby's tribalsale in Johannesburg.I was fightin' high bid from some catthat didn't play, didn't wanna play, but wanted to "slugit out" in r h e g a l l e r y .H e o u r b i d r n e .b u t ; n t h e e n d h e didn't have enough pesos to pay the man, so the pieces wound up back on the street. Later that eveningl ran into the chap thatoriginally offered the pieces,.iust wantingto make some spare change. We settled with a figure that doubled the auction bid a fair trade fol thc both ofus. I got a great couple ofstyle mongers thatthis g!)'basically chiseled out ofa Korrna tree from his bLrshvillage. Expensive, yes, but cheap in the end. cw\ h r L d . ! r l o p m r n t . d o J o u f o r e s e ei r ) the electric g!itar's future? GlBBorls More knobs. Bigger knobs. Bigger tone. And probably much, much louder. There's a famous saying..well, kinda famous... which goes,'Anyone can rebuild a gllitar, but it takes a re. man to cut one up." Lorg as there's some thrashir' goin' on, we'li be fine, 6ne, fine. Chop the broccoli, brother. c'-
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2:47AIll,,ST.IIIAFK'S PIAGE, EAST YIIIAGE, ]IEWYORI( GITY " H o r Z Z , r o c k o n l " T h e s e $ , o r d s ,s h o u t e d f l o m a p a s s i n gc r r ' ,g r c c t B i l l ) f - c i b b o n s . r s h e enrerges fr'om a co|ner- neNsstald al1clsn ides , r'rri inelr., \\l B'llr'.: IJ,.. f\', F o o t D o o f n l . r ) ( ) n e o f t h c m : r D ' sn r e r l o d u n r m e s f o r h i s b e r l c i ) . i t u o L r l db c h a r d f o r l n . . - , f l , \ / , o rt . , F , t | ! Z Z l , ' 1 , : . , 1 p . r r r i ( u | b ! n e $ r i t l r i s t , l i r t i c u l r f l v L r na s t r c c t t h : r t ' s a l l b u t r l c s e r t e dl l c f c i n t h c s m e l l h o u r . so f t h e n l o m i n g . B u t f o r B i l l r ' ,t h i s u n s o l i c i t e d exhortrtioi to "roch on ' hrs rn alnost occulr s i g n i h c i n c e . I t o n d c r s c o r c sl l f o i r l ! h e ' sb c c n t t r . r k i n gr l l e v e n i n g .l l r c k i n t h c l i m o , h e l e . r n s i n c l o s ea r d s l c r k s l o \ \ ' l " I m h e e r j n g l l l o t o f s c L r t t l e b u tsf a Y i D g th.lt rock mLrsicis b.rck. Pcople jLrs! \\'illlnr . . . L . r r .i r . \ . r . r t . . - l l . ; , ' r r . I ' e r r l , lr l . . l i o - . r r o r n d ,b c c a u s c: r l l r h e e l e n c n t s l e f t o v e f frorr whitelcr $,ns hot on the chrrts hst w e c h x r e g o i n g t o L r rt l l i \ e d i n . O f c o u r s e , r r p r n d l o c k h a Y cb c e D s h o t n t o b c a b l c r o l i v e togethef. So $.e migLt get rhis ferl s rrck! c o l l i s i t l r rt h r t s j r l s t t o t r l l l ' c l r z e d . T h e l i l c l c r . t h e b c t t e r ,I t h i n l { . ' ZZ Top's X,Y-)acortii n li cloesl.ock. Releasecl i n 1 9 9 9 ;, r t t h c l i r l c o f t h i s s t o f \ r t h e d i s cs
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cight studio f.rcks anLifolr lire cu$ irrc l : l i s h l l c l o u r s eqd i t h s o m c o l t h e l o s d o w n n.rsticst$rit:rr wofk evcr to cmanate fronr ttle ' n - r i . i r ll , \ l r : , ; i l i ^ r . . \ r . 1 . \ t ) , \ 1 r i ,. is \rilcl. At tinlcs thc te\tlrrcs go .rll gr-.rirl\':rnLl d i s t r c s s c dr,n d l r e . r t so c c a s i o n a l l l o o p o f T i n t o d1eLrrbrn junglL',but the lholc thing renr:rirrs Lllrnistrkrbl). ZZ Tof. Th.rt littie old bind ironr l . \ ' r . r " . l . ( . 1 'l | , , , r , . , r ' . c k . n r ' * . r ' , l r r l arLl stmngest conccpts. Th:rfs dre best \..rv t o p n i i t . f o f r l l h i s p r o \ r c s sr s : rg u i t r f i s t , B i l l l t i s f i r ' s ta n c lf o r e m o s t . rc o n c c p h r r l i s t : . ' s u n c r l i s t b l u r e s n l n ,a g c n t l e n r r nc o l l e c t ( no- f cLrltural a|tifacts-clothcs, c:us, grciges rnd s o l r n d s t h r t s o n r e h o \ \ ' r 1 1 h ucr. r p t a c ei n t l r c {'oflcl ol ZZ lbp. ''ThreeX" is t h e c o r r c c t r v a r ,r o . . N t h e title bard s xlburr. 'l! lneins nranl diffefent t h i n € i s , t"s i l h ,s a ) s .A s h e p o i n t s o u t , i t c o u l c lb e trken |rs rn ackno$leLlgrren! th.lt thc rc:rr of i t s r c l c a s er r : r r l s Z Z T 0 p ' s 3 O t hA n n i ! e f s a . "It's rlso thc nrnre ol-rgretltbccr ItcoulLl n r e : r np o i s o n .o r a p : r f t i c u l ! r ft v p e o f l i L l € o I l i l l l ' s D r i n d$ o | k s i n L r n L r s u a n l: r , v s , g e n e tr l l y . m o v i n g i n s e v e r ' . r l i l i f T c r e n t d i r c c t i o n s r l l . r t o r c c . S o i t \ \ , r s r r r . r n g c df i ) f r1lcto sfL'nd :rr entife cvcninq in his conprr\; c l L r i s i r gN I r n h : r t t r n r f i e r d a l h i n I b h c k
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I l i l l l i s l o o k i n g r c n r r r k a b l i ,c l i s p f o r . r g u v $io got ofTthc planc flom Texlrs jLrst .l| hoLrr r g - oT . h e S h , r f pD r c s s c d N I a n p e r s o n i f i e c lh. e ' s \ r ' c . u i n gr n i r n m r c u l r t e l y c L r tb l u c d c s i g n c , . r ' i r , l ' r t l r , . r " i , , , ' f . . c e , . o - i c :i . . . . rt 1 . . iFl. \ eflo r;Q. ll , . r " e o r L r .o i l \ 1 . \ r . . ' r ' silver' $ r'ist brngles, e gold ltoils,Royce I;rpel pirr, ,r bright rcd silk pocket squ.D'e$.ith \a hite p o l k r c l o t s .T h c c l o $ n i n g g l o l v i s I n r o < t unusurl lecl-rnd grcen hai pltbcfet,pert sho\\'cf cap cfowded with 3/.1 inch clorl r . r L ' . . 1 .,1l r, . r , ln c l . j r , r . r . , r ( . r ' ., , r 1 1\ i , . -oLrf ne$. t r a d c l n a r LA f | i c n n h N t , "B i l l ) . n n n o u n c c s .' F u n n y d r e r d l o c k h a t - ( l o w b o , The hlrt tics ir, albcit obl iquell',rvith I song or ItI crlled 'Dreadnx)nboogxl(x),'I iruntj, instnrncntrl that successfirllyconlbircs rcggre, blues, techno, talli rrd io. Il vine srucers .lnd .r '. , r ' a \ \ o r e . . r 'l ( . r r . f r L c B i l l \ ' \ I . i f u l ' , a mad junrble of ern likel). itcrN rhit ought no!
LEcEil0s ou GUrTrn 7
Rcprintrd tromGlllTAB W0B[0, 0ecember 1999
to work together,yet somehowdo.And aswe leavethe Rihga,Billy's headgearis lile a beacon, drawing every autographhound on 54th Sbeet. He patiently and cheerfully signshis nameand posesfor pictures.Then we're off
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Billy leanstoward me in aconspiratorial manner:"I'm notgonnasit in. we're just here to observetonight,okay?" cuitar legendLes Paul and fus trio have a regular Monday night residencyat Iridium. Billy smilesthrough yet another round of autographsand snapshotsat the door. Then we're sho\l,nto someseats.The club is crowded and the seatingis communal,with audience memberspackedcheekbyjowl at long rows of tables like somethingout of an encient Norman banquetinghall. "No private table," I find myself wincing. "This is gpnnabe weird:' But it's not. Within seconds,Billyis the best of friends with the guys seatednear him-fellow Texans,it turns out. They'resoon comparingnotesonAustin nightspots.Billy hasa greatability to putpeople at ease.He can readthem quickly and zero in on some aJeaofcommon interest.As he s inleresteL
injust abourcveryrfiing. thisisnl loo hdrd. Everyone'shavingagoodtime, but Billy is holdingfirm on one point: "I'm not sitting in." triveminuteslater,he'sup onstagewith a cibson LesPaulmodelstrappedarolrndhrs neck,the grinning objectof"beard" jokesadlibbedby Les Paulhimsell (Exampler"MaD, how'dyou getthat terrible fungus?")Les is 84.Whether it's a put-on or not, he seemsto be only dimly awareofwho Billy is. "Do yor.r haveaband?"he asks."What are someofvour songs?"Audiencememberspitch in. "Cheap Sunglasses" ! "SleepingBag"l "we do lots ofsongsabout,um, anatomy," Billy deadpans. "There'sonecalled'Legs.'And we haveanothercalled'Tush.'I guesswe're working our way up." The two glitar greatsdueton a breezyi2barblues.The bluesis a languagethat Billy speaksfluentlyin allits manydialects.In homageto his host,Billy tells the story ofhrs mostbelovedLes?aul guitar,Pearlycates,a sunburst'59cibson Customthat loomslarge in ZZ Top lore.The nar.ativeis pure Billy: fast paced,with manytangledthreads.But it possesses all the essentialsofa classicZZ Top video.There'sa woman,in this casea ftiend ofBilly's who wantedto go to Holl).woodand
becomean actress,There'sa car,a vintage yerbarelyroadworlhyvehiclethat Billl gives his friend for herjourney westward.(The automotivegift is anotheressentialingredlent in ZZ Top ml'thoiogy.cleamingcar keysare invariablytossedto deservingprotagonists) The giri makesitto L.A.,6nds success, sells the car atway under marketvalueand sends the moneyto Billy,who resig[edlyusesit to purchasethe aforementioned'59 LesPaul from a Texasfarmer Sincethe car had been namedPearlycates,thatbecomesthe guitart name,too. With this instrume[t, ZZ Top is founded.End of story Another l2-bar,a few morejokesand Billy's back in his seat.All the facialhair in the world couldn'tconcealhis ear-to-eargrin. Not gonna sit in, eh? 'Aw comeon, it'sl€s, man!How could I refuse?" The L.A./Texasconnectionis an important one in Billy's own life story The son ofa musician,he grew up aroundHoll)'wood,Las Vegasand Texas,the three placeswherehls father worked most frequ€ntly.His family tree alsoincludesnotedfilm setdesigner, art director and studio execCedric Gibbons,, creatorofthe AcademyAward'sOscar statuette.The art genewaspassedon to Billy, who earneda degreein the subjectfrom the Universityof Texasduringthe Sixties.Yes,the bigol beardandu ild shitkickerimageis.in Billy's case,somethingofa facade.Or rather, a kind ofsurrealistexaggeration ofjust one aspectofthe man'ssociomusicalbackground. Billy tried combiningvisualart with rocL and roll in his pre-Zz band,the Moving Sidewalks,who were knowo for their elaboratelypsychedelicstageeffects.Shortly after,ne met I ranKSearoano Dusty H, . The drummer and bassisthadaheadyjelled asa rh)'thm section,havingplayedtogether in countlessTexasbar bandsand the group AmericanBlues,u hosetwo albums,American BluesDo Their Thing andAftericdn BluesIs Hprp,ares(ill a sourceofembarrassmentfor the duo.But nobodywasembarrassed when Beardand Hill teamedup with cibbons. "I attribute a lotto Frank and Dusty," Mr Gibbonsdeclares."Their cohesiveness asa rhlthm section.The real functioning cornerstone,the backbone,of anymusic is the rhlthms. And in the caseofXXX, Dusty and Frank havelearnedto createsomething,in many instances,by way ofsubtraction.There is a lot ofspareness.I'mfinding shiny spots where the guitar is actuallyliving in the midst oftheir absence. That'sin the studio portion ofthe record.As for the live tracks,they're full-on thrash-outstuff." Texasblues-based rockwas stilla novel conceptin 1970when ZZ Top'sFirstA[bum cameour.Burr\e banddugor.rL a nichefor itselfthrough a se esofhard-grinding albums and relentlesstouring.The thingbroke through to awhole new levelwith 1975's World Wide TexasTour.That outingfound Messrs.cibbons,Beardand Hill performing onstagewith an entire menagerier buffalo, cattle,rattlesnakes, buzzardsand other creaturesnativeto the Lone StarState.It set ZZ Top milesapartfrom what by that point had becomea glut of"southern boogie"bands.
Rock and roll theme rours $erc still in their infanc].- This one gr\.c ZZ lbp an ironic ecigc thnt rerched orit beyond their core febcl,vell a u d i e n c e .W a s i t a j o k e ? T h e r n u s i c A few years later, dulingthe band's extcnded I977 79 hiatus, Gibbons and Hill bodr gr.e$ b e a r d s .B i l l y q u i c k l y n r r n e d t h i s chance coincidencc iuto another high concept/lori' comcclyr.isull s t a t e m e n t -B e a r d si n p l a c e ,t h c band the world now thinks ofas Z Z t o p s t e p p e dl o l w a r d i n ' 7 9 w i t h Lrnalbum calJedDc.qre11o, rccorcleci for their new record label, \ hrner B r o s .A l t h o u g h t h e m u s i c w a s s t i l l de€plvrootedirblues rrrdition, thc visual presentation harl more in conmon r-ith rvhat u'as bcirgdone b,Yrnother bunch ofarr students, some guys named Devo, rnd the ne$r wnve ofrock groups to u hich they belonged. ZZ Top's lylics also begrn takingor a kind ofifonic undercurrent, as hinred b)' song t i t l e s l i k e " C h e a p S u r g h s s e s "a n d "lln Bad,I'm NetionNiclc.' The phrase, "I'ln bad, t\r uation\|.ide;' Gibbons discloscs, \.as co-originatcd bt, "Billy Lee C l a 1 . t o na, n o l d b u d d v o f o u l s . H e end I stunbled our ofthe Vulcan cas Compan)', a nightclub ir Austin. [Je'd jusr seen l'rcddie Iiing. And rvc *-ere searching{or-a phr.ase that lvould sum it uF. He said, N{in he's b,rd.'And I said,'Ye.rh,he's nationwide.' Thc actu:rl l)'rics were devotcd to another-dcar fr-iend, Joey Long. He wrs this six foot-trll, i{ hite Cajun gurwho looked likc Wolfinan and piaycd the meanest s\.amp guitar ever-.Hc had I lovely wifc named Barbarella, rvho drove t h e i r s e r i e so f C x d i l l a c s .H e c l i d r ' r cyen have a drivcr's license. Butthat nadc it all the lnorc bealrtifLrl.He wrs d elinitel]' b:rd, rnd nation\,r,ide." The advert ofNITV in 1980 {,as like a dr.ca!r corre true lor !i]11, a br.end ne$' r.chicle fol devcloping the visual/concepruil side ofZZ Top. "There's sonething rcal valuable in \\4rat MTV nanaged to bdngto rnoment-bl, lnolnenl 1iving,"Billy rnuscs,"ifyoLr so chosc to enrer thc l'or-ld ofthe surleal. Salvador Dali, picasso and the rest ofthem \\,ere right \rhen fiev said thnl some day art i{'ill not be itllcccssiblei aft lvill bc in oul hands." A , 1 ,d l , ! r r u t r r , r r n - r b l e\ i , 1 . , c, l i t " ".ui : r n da n e w t e c h n o - e n h a D c c ds o u n ! 1Z, Z T o p eDjoyed its gleatest commercial sLrccessever with I983's,1ini,rdtor, 8 5's A/terbrrrncr and singlcs like "cilnInc All YoLrrLo\.in'," "Sharp Ilressed l\4an" ind "Legs." ZZ Top u,efe on top. $ , h i l e s o u t h e l n b l u e s - b a s e dc o n r e m p o r e r i e s like Ll,nyrd Sk1'n1'r'dor'.38 Special \\.cfe nrmes v o L r j u s td i d n t h e a f r n l n r c r c . T h e E i g h t i c s $,efe a grcat time lbr ZZ, but ho\r does Bili) rate lhe decadc in generaL? ''l think got I i t i r p e r s p e c t i v ej L r s ta l i t t l c u4rile ago," he grins. "l nxs watchingthe video
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for Tall{ing He.rds' 'BurIing DolvD thc HoLrse. You kDolv the one sherc ih€i"fe projectinS l h i s i m r g c o f D . i d B i , m e ' sh c a d o n t h i s highrva,vu ith \1tite lines going Lrpthc middle? L . , ' \ i n E . i , l r e . . l i zd, r r r . r l lr h o s , * h i r , lines ar-cgoing str.:lght Lrphis nose. Thrt jLrst a b o u t s u I n su p t h e E i g h r i c s ,d o D ' ry o u t h i n k ? "
rmREilT, !:q5&Iil.!IESIAUBAilT MEAT PACIIIIG DISTBICT "N{nn, rh.rt's tighfl" Billy is gr.o{J\.irgto the t e c h n o f u t u r i s t s o u n d so f P h o r e k b l a s t i n s f r o r n rhe stefeo svsten in this all night boho hipster. d i n e f .A D i n s o m n i a c .f o u n d t h c , c l o c k k i n c l o f gr],, Bill) kno\r's the :rll-night placcs in nrany ofthc u,orld's gfcat citics. He comes to this fxr \ \ < . 1, l u $ r r o $ r \ l l n h d r ' r . , r r . ' ^ r ' r 5 en r r' i , a s m L l c hr s t h c f o o d . I J e s o o n h a s a d e c i d e d l v p o s F m o d e r n l o o k i D g \ r ' a i t r e s sL l po n a c h n i , , - r r | i , r r qr \ n ' D r h . r 5r o , , r ' p l r r i r g . o . h , c:u1$ r'ite do\rn rhe trrck rancs fof Billy It's f o . F c - e I t n r ( z z l " l \ . e u r l l t l : t l s . r t t . Ll a \ 1l . ! n o f c l e c t r o n i ca n d , - l a r i c cm u s i c . N o o n e , - l e l i g h t s l]1thc seeming incongr-uity ofthis lnore than
t s i l l \ 'h i n l s e l i .u r i t h c o r s i d c r a b l e r e l i s h , B i i , l tells the storl'ofho\\. he got intlr.r rcccnt soldo u t C h e m i c | r lt s r o t h c r ss h o r v j u s t b e c a u s et h c guv at the doofcorldn'tbclic\'e thitsol11eoue in ZZ T()P \,r,oulderen \.ant tLrgo ncxr ir Chelnicel Br-others€iig. "lbu mean vou'rc into ahis?' s.li.l thc astonished doorkeeper',c)'ing Bill,v's long be.ud- ''fhis I gottr see. Con e on in." cibbors and ZZ Top have long had a grcat Lnnck tbr ircrj] p0r-irting contenporirrv r h l t h m s a n d s o u n d si n t o t h e i l c l a s s i cb l u e s baseclnppr-oach.Thel used hea\.ily scquenced Eighties nlachiDe rhltlnns on a/ininotor and Alierburncr es deftly as ihe! fold drlrm .rnd brss bcats iDto XXX'S "Dreadnonboogiloo." A n o t h e r t r a c k , " C r u f c i 6 y r I F l a t t , "c r - o s s c s b o l d l , vo n t o l T i p h o p s r h v t h m i c t u r i "The stuLlio sessioDsfor XIX unfolded . f o r . r B u \ R . c ^ r . l i n g . o Jp .r i r . r , ' , ' r r i r HolLston, Texrs," Billl l]elates."And \\'e're right next door to the farnrus mp stuclio, John l\{ordn's House o{ Funk. Hc docs Sc|lrface, the G e t o B o v s ,D c s t i n r ' s C h i l c l ,C a s h l 4 o n c 1 . . a l l t h e s e$ e a t t h i r g s t h a t a r - eh a v i n g s u c h a
.
tremendous impact il1 Houstol So we started hammer-on note is more than an afterthoughti hangingout over there.In fact, we wound it was directed to bejust that.Itbrings into u p m i r i r r Eo.u r t - r c k sr r I h e H o u \ eo f F u n k . focus the factthat ZZ Top still manage to hold DuriDgthat, we werc still findingtime to go onto thatbarroom tradition frorn whence the back in our studio and cut new tracks. So band originated.lr's a legitimizing factor that we couldn't help butbe inlluenced b]' our balalces out some ofthe craziness on the resr socializing \r,ith the rappers. They were so ofthe albu ." gracious ir doingthat streetwise thingwith Another key influeDce ol1xxx was Jeff ZZ. And we were willing stude[ts." Beck. ZZ Top caught one ofBeck's shows et XX]., B;ll!' continues, "is the result of New York's Roseland.Afterward, theyrvent ahnost a full year doing the daily studio grind backstage.'Jeff's new thing is champagne out at troam Box. Thercwere hours and hours only backstage;'Billy says-"No beer No water ofjam sessions.And the best ofthat was Nothingbut champagne.Everyone r-as ill a taken and reassembled usingPro Tools. ZZ great mood. It was very Jively back stage.But Top lrrtc. in rnyhumhle opinion.o re great suddenly a sort oflull fell o\€r the room. In true trio record: our last album, Rhythm€en, the awkward silence I suddelly found nyself which had very feu overJub'orpunch irrs. blufting out, 'Hey Jef{ wanna play on our ne\r' That's about as straight ahead as it gets. But r l l r u - n l \ o n o o r e r $ e r e r h e w o r J s o u t o fm on this new record, rve have made great mouththar I became painfully au'are ofwhat strides and takeD great lib€rties with some a dumb remarkthatwas. Beck doesn't playon wonderfuldrun loops al]d sone great textural an]'body's album. Not MichaelJackson. Not background-y things. And its all aimed at P r i n . c . N n L o d y .S o r n I r y a n d . a v e t h e . i t u l t i o n . givingthe guitar player a nice heary platform I said to Jefl'But I don'twantyou to play guitar I want )'ou to sing: Beck says'B lliantl' to feel solid with. wher )'ou get that much to stand on, brother, it's pedalto the metal. I I don't know ifhe was being $acious and mean sfdnd on it." r'escuingrne from myfounpds or ifhe really With all that digital cuttingand pasting meant it. Jeffhasnt reall], srngall that much there are momcnts when XXX takes on a kind on record. But the [ext dayhis manager said to ofTom waits scrap]'ard sensibility. "Tom me,'He's really serious about this."' waits is one ofn,Iy all-time heroes," Billy S o B . c l $ o u n d u p o v e r d u h h i n gb a c k . n g confirms. "We learned a long time ago that we vocals onto the live track, "Hey Mr. were better off att€mpting Millionaire." "t \r,ert up to Jeff's to emulate Howli[' Wolf than pretending to be the next Bob Dylan. Yet there are -,Ano just somecharming rt. urltvcontrrrue.. E f$flf dranratics in a handful of really visual I,vricists \D like waits, and that room.Theengireerfor -trlU.kllthr gets us ained in ouralbum haatoldme,
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lyricalll'. Some of it is nothirg morc thnn backroom poetry 'Crucifixx-A-Flatt' is our religion neets automotive-safety song but attempted from that Ton1 Waits' point of i'iew. Like, you know whnt a crucifix is, and n1ostPeoPle know what a can ofFixx a Flatt is, but Crucifix A Flatt is that gift from God at thosc times when life hands 1,ou nothing but a lonely road and a flat tire. It's that safetv factor." Other songs on XXX are more straighttorrvard, like thc albunls first single, "FearlessBoogie." "It's oln'best work drawn ftom thatJimmy Reed tradition," Billt' says. "That litde Eddie Trylor lAr]cricdn rlues guitatist/singcr and jliend ofJnnmy Reedl
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out to get the new JeffBeck album.And it did innuerce us cluitea bit."
2:15A.Itl.,RESIAURAIII Ft0BEllT "Let's see,giveme four ofthe vegetarian chilis,six ofthe mushroomsalads..." Nou'Billy's orderingsomefood to go.It's anotheroneofhis peculiarities. He likesto order up toff offood. Around him, there are often numerouspeoplerushingoff in different directionsto fullilldetailed setsof instructions culinaryand otherwise-issued bylilly. Somewhatsheepishly, he telJsme how he oncecommandeered cartonsofcomestibles at the airport. He knew the food on the plane would be wretch€d.Blt oncehe got onboard, he fellasleep,rot eatinga thingTo tellthe truth, Billy is somethingof a packrlt. A hoarder.When he leavesa restaurantor club,he'l] invariablyJinehis pocketswith matchbooks,postcards,an).thing that'sthere for the taking.He carriesa miniaturecamerawith him to capturescenes that seemirnportantto him rtthe moment. l r c o u l db er h ei r r ' i d eo l a s t u - . O . rasrreer corner.Just aboutanlthing. Backin Tenas there are saidto be eight warehousesfilled with ZZ Top m€mor:rbilia:stageclothing, props,equipment...
2:301.tt1., GEltl SPl,ST.ill[l('S PI.AGE, EASIYIIIAGE
Apparently,Billy's hoardinginstinct extendsto informationaswellas material objects.Here he is at one of NewYork's best stockedDewsstands buyinga dozel hotrod magazinesand a few surfnags, having decidedthat he'salreadyreadallthe pertinent nusic rnagazines on display.Ifnothingelse, ail this voraciousreadingnakes Billy a gl eat conver\ationalisr Af ch;tecrufe, Inacrobiotics, ob.crrre hlue. reco'ding...ruto:lobile.. the desig'rrrd mrnutucrureof.Lrrg'rs.e.... Brirg up a subjectand he'sjust aboutcertainto be n possession ofthe relevarrtfacts,ligxres and a handful of originalopinions.
#"jfi:y?:ll'il'":1,, :::J:ili"T.';il: ;i'lf itretchit if rveneerl to.' lt';l:'*1fif.T,1'liJ" i3i:Jlxfr;.1!i,ifi3:35A.ltl.,Rlllcl R0YAL lllITEt entails?' to me. refrsaid
The eveningwindsdown where it began,at the bar in Billy's hotel,which is now deserted. As oftenhappensat this time ofthe morning, the conver'sation turns to stupid stufflike, will therebe bluesin the 2lst century? "Ofcourse,"saysBill,v,whosedevotionto the genreis plofound. And doeshe havea disasterplan in the Beckisminhisphrasing, eventthat, aspredicted,a computerbugshuts notebendsarduseor down powergrids aroundthe world at the strokeofnidnight on NewYear'sEve 20OO? "well, we havepurchasedsone Ba)€enradios,"he replies,referringto the ourmindsatthatshou-' handcrankedtransistorizeddevices."The], havea rechargeabie batt€rythat canprovide abouta halfhour beforeit needsto be rechargedagain.The fanciermodelshavea light aswell, which meansyou canhavehalf an hour of light and,during that time, listen to your favoritemusic.Sothat, while we might experienceablackout in the new century,we can still havethe blues."$./
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after a five-year absence, ZZ Top proved. that the bawd.y bad- boys of boogie rock could. stil1 raj-se heI1 wlth the best of 'em. ByllanEpstein Vi2
Gunrn lEGEros
Rcpninted fromGUIT I W0RL0, ]{ovember 2003
lT'S A qBAY UARGH afternoonin Houston, Texas.Outside,the rain is comingdown in chilly torents, but insidea hotelsuite near the city's calleria shoppingcenter,hometown heroesZZ Top arebaskingwarmlyin the toastyglareofa TV crew'slightiry rigScheduledto play RodeoHoustontomorrow night, drummer FrankBeard,bassistDusty Hill and guitaristBilly F.Gibbonshave assembled to good-naturedlyanswera few quesriorrs abourlhe r lhree-weeL rodeomu\ic eventfor the local newsmedia."You'vegotta put on agood show in your hometown,"Dusty says."Otherwise,you hearaboutitthe next day atthe gasstationl"when the interviewer asksthem the secretoftheir success, cibbons doesn'tmissa beat,"Tone,tasteand tenacity," he rumblesfrom behind his omnipresent beardand shades. co ahead-nane anotherrock bandthat's stayedtogetherwithout a singlelineup change for aslongasZZ Top.Youcan't;evenU2,who arc generallyviewedasthe modelofiongtermband unity,lirst took the stagealmost eight yearsafter Billy,Dusty and Frank's jnauguraljamat a 1969Halloweer parry Put it down to tone,taste,tenacityor anlthingelse I'ou like,but ever sincethat day,the self styled "Little Ol'Band from Texas"hasconsistently offeredup a deliciouslytwisted,gloriousl]' djstortedspin on tone StarStateblues. They'veincorporatedvarioustechnological advancesalongthe way,yet they'vetypically ignoredthe prevailingfadsand trendsofthe moment, Mescdlero(RCA), ZZ Top's sprawling l6-back albumfrom 2oo3,addsits own unusualchaplerro rheongoingsonicsaga. Producedby BillyL Cibbonsathis troamBox Recordingsstudio in Houston,the albumhas a little bit of something fo. every ZZ Top t'a]Ir, whether theymetthe bandon 1973's?r€s Hombres,Ba3'sEliminatoror 1999'sXXX. "7t hassomeearlystyle,somemiddle styleand then somewild style,"Billysayswith a smile. Youwant someold-schoolroadhousecrunch? Dig the Io!v-downboogieof "Liquor,"the raunchy"Buck Nekkid" or the greasycoverof Lowell Fulson's"Tramp."Needa little bluesto go with that heartbreak?Try the tear-jerking lament"Goin' SoGood."Havea tastefor solne futuristic,industIial-flavoredbeats?Help yourselfto the goofy"Me So Stupid"or the d vinginstrumental"Crunchy."And then thefe! I'ackslike Mescalero,_Ttro\ a)s to PIay. PunkAssBo)'friendand Piece, on which ZZ Top soundboth more nastily fuzzed-outand more electronicallyhotroddedthan ever.In fact,ifpressedfor some sort ofshofthand to sum it all up,you could do far wolse than ro describeMescoleroas_ 'Tush' GoesTechno." "Hel.,notbadl Canwe usethat?"Billy says,ashe and Dustysit down with c&ifdr" Worldto discussthe record.Accordingto the $ritarist, the album'sgenesisbeganwith one ofthe band'spreviousEuropeantours,where the bovswere slrbjectedto a steadystream ofelectronicsoundsin the localciubsand wateringholes."Technois rockin'over there," he says."They do it in a differentkind ofway than what we might considerit from stateside. lr'5a litrlemorehei,"y.And DJsq . t ind o.
pushedme off in a direction. He said,'Putmrs intoyourbrain. Think early-styleZZ with the Europeanth:ng.' " " 'Techno'is a word almostlike 'disco,'" Dustyadds."It's got a bad connotationto it you know what I lnean?But there'scool techno,stuffthat hasmore ofan element ofrock and rollto it. Plus,when we put our hrnd\ on ic.ir ger\dirry W\ich. t ou know,is good,asfar aswe'reconcerned," Ditty soundscertainlydo abound on Mescdlero, thanksin part to an odd Germanguitar calledthe TeuifelBirdfish.e lightweightaluminuminstrumentwith no headstock,three moon-shapedhumbucking pickupsand interchangeable "tone bars" resonators-theBirdfishlooksmore like a work ofpostmodernsculpturethan a functionalax. "This eccentriccerman gly makesthem in somehidden-au'aybarn in the dark part of the Blackforest," Billy explains."Butthere was a Teuffelrep basedin OrangeCounty, California,andhe knew that ZZ Top both Dustyand I-had ar affinity for the odd andunusual. And I'm thilkin', well,I've heardthatbefore...But he waslike, [in leras approximationof Germdndccentl'Oh,Billy,let me zendyou zomethingl'Well,we openedthe box, and I said,'What is this?whalever it is, I likeitl' "Dusty and I €xperimentedwith them, just out ofcuriosity.But they had our kind ofsound right out ofthe bor..And we used them on four tracks-'Mescalero,''Two Ways to Play,''BuckNekkid' and 'Piece.'They,re quite comfortable,they stayin tu[e great.It's adjustable in every way that you'd want: the pickupsgo up and down,they go forward and back,and you cansetyou. pickup position to the 16thofan inch. lt reallyshineson 'Mescalero'becauseofthat dirty, raunchy tone.I defy anyother instrumentto get thdf crazy.It would takea line of50 Fuzz-Tonesl" Ofcourse,it wouldn't be a ZZ Top album without the presenceofPearlycates,Billy's legendary'59LesPaul."Pearly'son just about everythingon Mescdlero," Billy says."Pearly Gatesis the cornerstoneofsound,and from all that, otherswill bejudged.I alsousedan old cretsch that Bo Diddleygaveme,and a'51 blackpickguardEsquirethatl think I usedon 'Tramp.'Itwas tuned down to low B, which almostrendereditunusable,but it lendedthat ro i(. lt s a stran8e fiedvln?ss sound-strange in a goodwat I supposel" For aband so steepedin blueshistory and lore,ZZ Top havesurprisinglyfewcoversof classicbluesnumbersin their discography. Butthe lure of "Tramp,"originallyrecordedin 1966by Lowell Fulson and later coveredby numerousartists,mostfamouslyasa duetby OtisReddingandCarlaThomas-simply could not be denied. "I heardit on the radio in Los Angeles duringone ofthe Sundayafternoonblues hours,"Billy er.plains,"and I couldn't forgetjt. Itjust stuckand stuckand stuck." After kicking it arourd n few timesduring prerecordingjams, the banddecidedto try trackingit. "Itjust becameso much fun to play,we thought,Hey,let'sgivethis trrunt" Dustysays."Throughthe years,we haven't
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done a lot ofother people's stutf, but occ asionally rve'11do something. fu1d with Billy's voice, itjust seened right." Adds Billy, "LowellFulson was so gTeat,but somewhat underrated in the $and scheme ofwho gets mentioned first. You'\€ got Howlin' woll B.B. King, Jilnlnv Reed, TBonc Walker, Freddie King, Albert King. tsut where's Lowell? He was a talent; he could delil.er His records on Kenl have a beautiful, warm s o u n d . ' B l a c kN i g h t s ' ?T h a t ' s s o m e great, gleat stuff-" In addition to his Tu€ffel Birdfish bass (allegedly rhe only one in exist€nce), Dusry used his trusty early Fifti€s Fender Telecaster bass on the albuln, alongwith an offthe-rack Sixties Jazz Bass r-eissue. "Dust!"s the only bassist I knou' that's got abuilt-in truzz-Tone in his finger," Billy sa,vs,then laughs as Dustv proudly displays his right index finger Nicknamed "the Pleaser,"the stubby djgit hasn't b e n t i n d e c a d e st,h e r e s u l t o f a football injurl. in his,vounger days. "Whatever I'm playing, oncc I put 'the Plcaser'onit, i t s e e m st o c h a n g e the sound an\,.way,"Dusty says with a shrug. Dust-v'sstudio rig, an old Ampeg SVT head with an 8xt0 cabinet, made its preserce felt dLrring the M€rcdlero sessioDsin more wavs "To got a little sepamtion in the recordingroom,the speaker crbinets were cranmed into the corner, turned in to the wall," Bill_v says. "Now, our next door neighbor shares a common wall. cnnted, it's a pretty significant firewall, but the u'alr Dusly plays...Our neighbor is a photographer, and he basically does glamour work. One day he ca e o v e r a n d s a i d , ' S o ,w h a t ' s u p ? ' A n d I said, 'We're basically just reviewing the tracks, doing a little catch-up aod housecleaning. Why do you a s k ? ' A n d h e s a i d , ' B e c a u s eI ' v e g o t t h e s e STeat-lookin'girls comin'in, and they always work better when that'boom'comes throuph the walll"' "It really shakes their tiara;'Dusty says, gnnn'ng. "I'mglad you said that," Billy says.laughrllg. "I was gonra say something else,but'tiara'
HAIIG O|'T rH HOUSTOX with Bill], F. cibbons for any decent length of time and you'll cone away {.ith a sense ofwhat it nustbe like to keep compan,vu'ith royalty EverFvhcre Billy goes in H Tou'n, people call out his name, greeting him like an old fliend. Middle-aged men come to his table, hands trembling, to shyly request an nlrtographj i n r a c t i r e l a d i c sd r r F e t h e m . r h c . a r o u n d h i . )anky figure, playfully askingwhen he's going to rnarry !hen. Through it aLl,Billy remains
temarkablygracious,neverpullinga star trip or beinganlthinglessthan accommodating. It's beensaidthat no one in rock and roll trulv enjot'shis famemorethan Billy F.cibbons, andthere'slittle in his mannerthatu'ould appearto contradictsucha statement. There are,however,timeswhe[ the patienceofeven the most stoicindividualcan be sorelrresred. The nighrbeforeZZ Toptr appearance at RodeoHouston,GuitdJ'World, Billy and a coupleofhis palsrepairto a local cantinafor a post-r'ehearsal round ofbeer, marga tas and chickenenchiladas.It's alnost closingtime,and the placeis empty,savefor a f€w custonersand oneexceedinglydrunk nariachi, rvhose6lny eveslight up assoon asBilly u,alksthroughthe door.Thoughthe g!itarist is too sous€dto play,letalole drive home,he insistson performinganumberor tv.o for Billy and his crew.Bill-vrequeststhe rfadiliordl\4e\icanballaJ"Volrpr,\olver,
takingthe high vocalharmonyasthe musician happilyfumbleshis rvaythrough the song. When the performanceconcludes,Billy's cohortsoffer polite applause,silently hoping thatthe mariachiwill return to his barstool. Instead,fired up b]' the positivereception,the manbegin.ro \ ammere\ciledlyin frpid firc Spanish,obliviousto the fact that not even Billy,the one personat the tablewith decent Espariolskills,hasanyidearvhat he'stalking about.Then,satisfred*'ith his monologue, the glitarist breaksinto :rrendition of "Guantanamera" that can o ybe described as"grinding."As his audiencelooks on in wordlesshorror,a steadystreamofdrool begir. ro p^ur froml\e righrrorne-of hi: m o u r h\ l - i l e h e f r J y s T . h es a l i r ru r t e r f r I first hits the body oithe grlitar,thel splashes B stlaightinto the freshbasketoftortilla chips = . i n i r g o n h et a b l e-.l r h i n l r h e . eo u g h r b ae hermeticallysealedor something,"Billy says, :
that,"he says,rattling offa list ofeffectsthat includes Vari Drive,RealT!be, Austoneand Expandora distortionunits,some ancientDeArmondtremolo pedalsand "that Danelectro wah-wahthat lookslike a car-that's the craziest thingl've everseenl"But for the mostpat, Mescdl€ro's sleazy,splooge encrusted guitar tonesareasmuch the product ofa hrppy accident ofphysicsasthey are of well-chosenstonrpboxes. Or maybewe'd betterjust get out ofthe way and let the man explain. "l've got a nice little 2x10Marshallthatwas put togetherby Brent Magnano's outfit, GuitarOasis,"Billy says."Ior convenie[ce,a 'Plexi'headwasstuffed into an old mini-Marshall cabinet;therewasjust e[ough spaceto squeez€ two l0-inch speakersinto it. That'spannedhard right on the r€cording,and then we'reusingthe Marshall JMP-I pre-amp-it's got a little 12Ax7tube in ir-and that'sdirect-signaledto the left side,hard-pannedleft. "while lecordilg, u,e kept hearingwhat we thoughtrvasa delay,a little bit of slapback.But itwasn't eren somenoteswele closertogetherthan other notes.And we lookedand we searched;wechasedall the signallinesdown, and we didn't evenhavea delay in the line.what we suspect wasoccurringwas a s;mple law ofphysics:the paper speakerswere maki[g their excursionsoutward and inward,while the JMP-I wns chucklilgas hc gingerly moves the chipbasket to the next table, as the restaurant rnalager fina1ly escorts the sodden guitarist back to the bar "But what I reallywanna know is, what kind oftequild was that cat drinkin'?" For all his elemental sang froid, you've gotta wonder sometimes ifthe guitarist's selfc f f a c i n g s e n s eo f h u m o r h i s b u s i n e s sc a r d reads "cibbom:trriend ofEric Claptol" and e c c e n r r i cp e r s o r ) a sl r ) l e h x . n t s o m e h o $ k e p ( Billy r'. cibbons trom gettinghis lotaldue a s a m u s i c i a n .T o m u c h o f t h e w o r l d , B i l l y r s nore ofa cartoon character than a guitar hero, but his searing approach to electric blues is certrinly as unique (and nearly as influential) as that ofClapton, Keith Richards or the late Stevie Ray Vrughen. Mescd/ero represents yet another milestone i n B i l l y : e n d l e : .q u e - t t o r e F n eh i s . r t u r r t e d . instantly recognizabl€ tonc. "I'm not abo\.c taking a rnoment to experiment \,r,iththis and
hardwir€d. Now, electrons travel much fast€r dowr the wire thar this primitive nethod of solrnd reproduction; the paper was respondilg . l o w e r b u t r h e h i g h n o t e sw e r e c l o . e r o g e r h e r . a r d t l - e l o u n o t e sg o t u i d e r r p r r t . s o i r s t h i " organic delay effect. It weaves all over the place-it's smedry. We've noticed that it even changes from glitar to guitar, particularJy Feldcrs. Because oftheir longer scale,the)' have a tighter, treblier sound, and ofcourse it's refleced in the amplifier end ofthings. Man,justwhen I'oLrthink you know it all, somethingjumps up to say,'Nope, it's gonDa change on ya!' " According to Billy, humidity-something that Houston hff no shortage of also pln-ved its part in the recofding. "The cluality ofthe ajr surrounding a microphone can really affect the sound," he says."You say,'what's different today?'Weli, it's 1O0d€grees and 80 percent humidi\'; the air is rich, and then ifthat
guesswhat?fhe fesponsc changes. irfrhrl .peakeranddiaphragrn ofthe microphone. it's all different,becausethe air between'em i sd i f ' e r e n lrr. ' sa m r z i r g l.r c r n d f i \ ey o u crazy-gooil cfazy. "Maybethat'swhat contributesto the magicandthe mysterythatdifferentiates Texastone from an!?laceelse.Particularly on the GulfCoast you getplayersfrom the Mexicanborder,allthe waythrough Louisianaand Mississippi.Youget in a hot rod a n df o l l o uI n t e r r t r t el 0 u . l r i li t e n d s o \ e r i n Florida.As longasyou staysouth,it's gonra be fat and sassy." lTiS XEARIY SHOWTIIE at Houston's ReliantStadium,an ediliceso monunentally hulking it positivelydwarfsthe neighboring Astrodome.This is the eighth night ofthis year'sRodeoHouston,but most ofthe 60,000plus peoplein attendanceseemasifthel' couldcarele.. abourrheevening.calf ropir)' andbronc-bustin'competitions.They'rehere ro .cr ZZ Tup.\ ho rfe ph1 ingbrck in their hometownfor the firsttime iD 12months. After country artist Lee Greenwoodgets the crowdpunped with a soloperforn'nnce of hi. _codBle.\rheUSA.serrorhrckdropoi SpaceShuttle and U.S.Air Forcefootage,Billy and Dusty emergeonto the revoh.ingstagein rhinestone-studded serapes andl0-gallonhats andpromptlykickthe shitoutofa hit-packed 15songset.Billyplayshis Bo DiddleyGretschfor nos! ofthe evening, thenwhipsout PearlyGates fora coupleofnumbers-onlyit'snot actually tl-ehl'led 59LesPrulburrJrherrhollo$edout reissuemodelthat,Billl' proudlytellsGuitar Worl4 "weighs lessthan a Marlin acoustic." "We.reamedo[f rheropandwenf for it. he says."I wnslike,'I don'twanta speckof sawdustthat isn't necessary'We did four of 'em- srandafd. r;gh(off rhe rackGibson.. Therewas one ofthe cibson Les Paulreissues that wrs quite pricey,but I knew thrtwe were takinga chanc€on totally trashiDgthem aq.way,sowe boughtthe cheapones." In soundandattitude,ZZ Top stillcome off morelike a grage bandthan a cla.ssic-rock institution. Not surprisingly,they'vebeen heaftenedby the emergenceofnewer, rawer bandslike the Hives,theVinesandthe White Stripes."whrt they'redoingfeelscloserto the heaft of how we start€dthan anltling elseout there,"saysDusty,who paid his garageband dueswith FrankBeardin the AnericanBlues beforetheyhookedup with Bill]',whohadbeen playingwith the Moving Sidewalks.':Iust bangin' for it and gettin' conplaints {fom neighbors,you know?I mean,you'vegottagetcomplaintsfrom neighbors, or you ain't doin'it right." 'All ofthe 'thc'bands,they're poignantry expendingtheirpersonalenergytoward gettingit right,"'says Billy, noddingsagely. "what'right'is,u'edon'tknow.But whenyou feel it, it's good.And theseguysare doingit." ZZ Top aredoing it aswell, and they'll probablycontinueto do so until the Grim R€aperpri€stheir vintageaxesfrom their cold,deadhands."We're still the samethlee guys,playingthe samethree chords,enjoying it all:'srys Billy."That's howwe started. we've aiwayssaic{,'Makeit loud, and it'll be 6ne."'And it ahvat'sis.qr-
Mellow d.own easy with nasty d-og and. funky king Bi11y F. Gi-bbons, the Houston kid. who has seen hi-s li'lOl t Band-From Texas go from natj-onwld-e boogie boys to international ambassad-orsof bl-ues rock. ByBobGulla EttLY F. clBEO s tlt lookinginto the camem- At least we think he's lookinginto thc camera. It's impossible to tcll becausehis eyes arc blacked outbl.his signature "cheap" sunglass €s (Rai.Bans, actually).In fact, his entire head is blacked out, sort ol what$ ith the beard, the glasscs,and an AfricaD sklrllcap rhat could . r l m o . r n u s sf , ' - r ' e r - - rw e i r J h r i r E r e n I n r g r i n r e 'r'r. would be hrr.l tfe.\ed ro lDrh( nrr'. mkcd visage.SlilL,sittirgon a stoolin frontof his Cratc V-50 combo, he looks and sounds like a pro as he shills forhis neu, guitar ''This cretsch is r De\,! model called the Billy Bo," he begins. "It was inspi|ed by Bo D i d d l e y ' sg u i t a r : p € r f e c t l yb a l a l c c d , o n e - p r e c e bod1.,nice backside coltour. I highly reco[rlnend it. All vou gotta do is spank the plank and tear it up." Gibbons's new Billy-Bo is !l.ull' a gem. 11 lctains the Diddley oliginal's four-knob conflguration, two Filtertron pickups, Space
Cortrol bridge, G tailpiece, three-position togg-lesu.itch, and string through bod1,construc, tion.It's ore sweetnachirc, onethat cibbons now tours uith and beats on coDstantly * hi, h :. reallyrrr rrr! .orrerh'ng r ner vorconsidcr the heap ofaxes the grv owns. "crab t h a t s l a b ,p l u g i t i n a n d g r i n d m c a p o u n d , " h e i n s i s t s .G i b b o n sh a s i n n u m e r r b l e w a v s o f t e l i inghis fans the sane thing: pick up the g'uitar rnd play it. The thing is, he means it. He's been a fanatic about the instrumcnt since the late Filiies, when, as a kid in his nativ€ Houstor', he sr\l- Scott]' Moore accompanying Elvis. Growing up in the early Sixties, he witnessed t h e s u r f s c c n c ;a n i m a g e o f t h e F c n d e r S t r a t s r . r h r u . r i n u \ i . l r e r d . q n d r r l e r . tL { x i r J ists emerged in the Sixtics, Gibbons rvas light thele, zcroing in on a style ofhis ou'n, pat terned alier Diddley, Chuck !cII),, Buddy cuy, S t e v eC r o p p c r a n d J i m m i e N o l a n . I n t h e l a t e
S i x t i e sG . i b b , ' r rI.' e ' r i e n d e JJ i r r i H e n d r ' \ w h o h e l p e d h i m u n d e r s t a n dt h e p o t c n t i a l o f the inslrunent- lnspired ar the srme time bi' thc explosive sound ofEric Cl:rpton's cibsoD s c a n d \ 4 r r . h r ' 1 .C i b b o n sb . g : n , u r r i r g h i r own musicxl path, first as the foundcr-oftne margin:rlly inlluential Texas ps),chedelic band rhe Movirg Sidewalks, al1dthen,latel after. m e e t i n g b a s s i s tD u s t y H i i l e r d c l r u m e r F r r n k Beard, as hontman for ZZ Top. Benealh the beard and dapper tux likc suit is r rix .rlirU rnrdn rn.x gretr.eJ up bluc\l o c k m a c h i n eu , i t h t h e f i n e s s eo f a n e x p e n , lhe revs ofa muscle car, and the guitar \-ocabular',vofa scholar-.He's a psycho hillbilll, longhorn in heavy camouflage, and over.tne p a s t 3 0 l c a t - sh e ' s k i c k e d u p t h c m o s t v i s c e r r l blues *,e've hear-d from a conmercial act- And rl'hile he mry harbol much ofhis true per-sonaliqr under and within thosc g assl',foot long strawbcrry stlands of facial hair', there's no
hiding Gibbons'trueand deeptovefor righteousblues and boogieguit,lr. "There's nothing nnlr€ enjoyable than p i c k i n ' u p a g e e t a ra n d b a n g i n ' i t , f i n d i n ' t h e l ' e s ' l r e t . .f i r J i l h n . e . o u n L l . , l r ( s r ' r e \ i r lis new book, rilryF. dibbonsjRocl + Roll G e a r h e a d ,a h a r d c o v e r l o v e l e t t e r ! o h i s r w o g r e r t c s l I l i r \ . i o n s :c r r s . r d g i r i r . . T h e b o t t o m i i n c i s i o v e { ' h a t v o u d o , c h a s el v h a t y o r i \ r , a n n eh c a r l I p e r s o n a l l v c h o o s e t o u s e e v e r i ' t h i n g a v a i l a b l c n s f a r : r st h e h a n d s g o . Ard what goes on il my hcad what goes o n i n n 1 yh e a d c r n b e q u i t e o y e r w h e l m ing. Count on using everything you canl c e t m e n n e r , f a s t e r , q u i c k e r . . . . "H e c l o s e s the quotc by paraphrasilltj N{uddv \ ra!ers: "You doD't have to be rhe best one,just be a good'un," cibbons has ebided by waters' ad\.icc by bccoming a superb stylist, a player ivho, like nany of rock's greatest pick€rs, can be identified b1'a single plucked note or thundcring chord. His tonc rnd style benefit from his gear fanaticisn. To wit, on his to do Iist \r'hilc in New York City, along wirh a ZZ Top gig and a few promo appearanccs for his book, r,as a irip down to Chclsex Guitars, a uell'knor.n guitar shop orvncd b y D a n C o u r t e n a , vt h a t i s h o m c t o r r a f t o f - " r e g L i r r r ' . T - r . \ i , l e j . r u n r r ' . r . r , r r r n r l . i rg ofa pilgrilnagc lor cibbons, r,ho nantcd to see (nnd hold, ard hear) an early Leo F e n d e r 'T c l c c a s t e l p r o t o t _ v p ck l 1 o w n s i n p l y as"No.0O09." likeprina/acle cvidence, ZZ Top's two r i . r r r l r r e i . - L r e Jc l . r . s i , . . / r . i H o n t 6 r e s . r D dn . d n d d n g o - b o t h o f w h i c h w e r e € i i v e n t h e d e l u x e t r c a t m e n t b ) , W a r 1 1 e rB r o s . / Rhino-offer ploof that cibbons' guitar talents are on paf rl.ith those ofany well n o t e d b l u c s - r o c k g u i t . r r g o c l .Y o u m i g h r c a l l him the "othcr" guit:rr god. ?resHombrcs, - e - e " . e J i n 1 . 7 3 .l , . r u - p d r h e h l u c s l , , r g r e "Ia Crange" (basedon John Lee Hooker's seminal "Boogie Chillen") and album tr:rcks/li\.c stnples like "Beer Drinkers & Hell Raisers" end'.Iesus Just Left Chicago." It was the work that hcrded the band our of Texas and into the lational limelight. F a n J o ' t . ; ox. r r r i l i r e , l - a l f . t u J . u f o l l e . r'^n i.suedtro irrr': lrtp-.ho-.tcd r.er. ond hit single, the crowd,fnvorite "Tuslr " rs lvell as "Heard It On the X" (r'hich many c o l . i d e r L ub L r - r el . 1 n d . h c s r$ , , r k l T h i . sound, this hoodoo boogie, sent not onlv ZZ l'op stampedjng acrossthe countrv but also helpcd to cstablish blues rock as a com mercial forn. A iter cibbons lirishcs sturrping for his reu' L " L i r J r lr . f - e t " r e . t o J i r r r l c * o r . . T o f r c i l i r r r e r l r i . r . : 1 . r C u t d r W o r/ r i LJ i r ^ r I ' r i n g . h i r n a paper bag{,ith a six-pack ofBudu.ciser tnll boys in it. \\ie had heard Gibbons drinks bcer through a srra$,,to kcep the suds outofhis berrd, naturall,vi but rt the moment he is sans straw He dit+i oui a can, yanks opcr the popbp with a ts.,rsst/, tips itback, rhen placcs it " O n e g o o d s t x l t i n € ip o i n f f o r r D c k i n ' b l u e s i . . l ' n ' r r \ k e . L l . h r . , ' ! . \ v i r h o u rl r , 5 r t r t i n . r . Hc quickIyn'ofks up a blues shLrflle.(flcUREr) "It doesn't get n]uch sinplcr than this. Reed \r,as accompanied by Eddie Ta_vlor,u'ho com
plemented that particular ffwirh rhis move chatlgewith a i3rd .trd grace slurl, and la M you could combine the rlvo and play it like this [acuRE 21.And ofcourse, the famous ans\,r,er lrurndround], from the V bacL to the I, goes all the way back to Robeft Johnsor." (FrcuRE3) C i h b o n .c r r L . , , u l \ . r - ' : l l i o n 5 o l h , , r i d i r : l l J i r r r I R e e J f i F f$ i r l - e r . e . h l e n d i n 6r n t\r'istirgeach one together-like colors on abarber''spole, adding increasinli amounts ofmeat to what began as a b e-bones ligltrc. Then Bill,v'scellphone ril1gs.He stops for a nomcrt, ans\r'ers."It's JinnnyReecl calling!" he says r l o u d 6 . r uf f l ) . $ i r h a . b : n r i l L . I l r r r . ' r r o r ' r e phone:"Whatwas that? Thrn around atth€ hve? OK." Atlast, cibbons takes thc call, blrt not before t e l l i n g e v c r v o n ei n t h e s t u d i o " l ' 1 1 b er i g h r b a c k to,val" Within n few minutes he does indeed .eturnj and we resum€ our intervierv. OUITAR WORLD What inspired you ro put this book together? EILLY GIBBO S lt's no secret dtat this astounding number ofcars and guitars has escalated to the poin! whefe it's \,r.orthyof p u b l i . h i n A . br o n \ n l r h e n r .W ( "rJfrrddigging back through the vauJt ir's rlways fun to go iird thrt glritar that may have been ovellooked but has gotten some sigllificallce along the wr).. So thcre was rn excursion into thar realnl o f p l r l l i n g o u t t h i r g s t h a t h a d a k e e n s e n s co f inpor-tance, both cars ard guitars. Cars and
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guitars are much like babies: theylike r lotof attcntion rnd a lot ofliquids. It's impor-tant to note that there's a s,vnergislic connectivitv between cars and guitars: on the gear le\€l,,vou get a g!ita1 learn a song, and thcn you ha\c to take it to th€ nightcLub. But to get to the club you have to have a cat so why not do it in style? That's the backbone o f h o u ' a l l o f t h i s b e l o v e da c c u m u l a t i o nc a ! r e to bcrngcW And,voLrr story in glitars alone is an ln!eresflng ol]c. GIBBOtaS The cornerstone is the first guitar that founded the soulld ofBilly f. Gibbonsand ZZ Top, which is the 1959 Sunburst Gibsor Les Paul "Pearlv cates " Ard from that rrther unexpected begin nintj, the chase to find a guitar that ivould p e r f b r m i n t h e s n m e r n a n n e r ,v o l u m e - w i s e , f r e q u e n c ru r . r r n d h r - r r o n i c u i , c , r ' , , n t i n u e d t o b e e v a s i v e .I t w a s a n e l u s i v e s p c cialty that this one guitar had, and nlong the w a y w e ' v e d i s c o v e r e dt h a t e a c h g u i t a r h a s i t s o w n c h a r a c t e r a n d p e r s o n a l i ! y ,w h i c h , rr 1,.nrgrilieJ onc, rl-cplrrerergagesirr beatin'it up. GW Likc perfume on a womal, right? OIBBOIIS Yes, it's ver]'perso[a]. In fact, even two glitars manufactured on the sanc day ale different:board byboald, pJank b1 plaDk, th€ glLrethey use, the tenlpcrature, the amount ofpnint all these elements adcl to this flavor With rcsp€ct to the diversity of
the guitar, the interest factor goes through the roofrrith that one notior ofpelsonality and charact€r, piece by piece, performance b), performancc.Ior me. it's a seemingly endless well of interest. Certain guitars justaffect one's playing rvhether ifs his technique or his sourd. ADd I have on man-voccasions shared m o m e n t so l g r r i t a rp l a ) i n g m y ' t e r i e s 1 i 1 . . Man, I played this exactly the sa e way, but I just hrppened to pla]' it on a different instru ment and it carne out totally different; it \vasn't everl the same rifl Butthe point is to have a good time with it. ow How much consideration do ),ou grve to st-vle,as n phyer, a person and ngerrguv? crEEoxs Styl€ is paramount. We nr€ now livingin a rvolld that is divided into agazillior segments,each requiri[g a bit ofattentio[ to maintain a level ofpalience that allows one to develop somethingthat could be lecogrized as a sigrature or style. lt motivates us to capture our own moments ill a world that is continu ally beingdivided; it's the challenge oferery player Th€re was a tim€ i{hen there weren t as many styles to consider. Br.ltthe good news is that we're experiencingan escaletingrange ofcreativiry on one hand it's more difficult to find sonrethingthat will hold your attention. on the other hand, in the words ofSalvador Dali, "at sone point in the not so distant future, tl,e u,orld willbecome surreal." And I think, g!ilarwise, we're there no\r ow Tell us nbout thejoys and challenges of sittingillwith someone like Les Paul, or 8.8. King. what do you bringto those situations? olBEoxs Stepping outside ofthe private c i u h c . r l l e dZ Z T o p . | \ e r c c e p r c d s n r n ef t s c i nating invitations from groups as diverse as Quccns ofthe Stone Age and Nickelback, and also to Ies Paul's 9oth birthday ribute, and B . B . 8 o r h . T h e s ea r e i r l ' d i f h r e n t p l o j e . r . and they require different approaches. With Queens ofthc stone Age, they're a real focused unit, a bit eccentlic, but focused in awaythat m a d e i t r e a l e a s yt o c o m e i n , a n d p l u g i n a n d plalr There are always certain challeng€s that I don't anticipate. ow Lefs talk about {,hat's in store for,\'ou as a player, and for ZZ Top in general. oIEEo||a lt's entered into this realm of mind reading. ZZ Top is what we enjoy most. Playirgin zZ 1bp, playingwith the Rolling stones-there's an enjoyable sidelight. wh]' do we do it? we lo\.e doingit. It's all we kno1,r,, and all we knou'hou-to do. Once you get strulg by it, it sta,vswith you, and thafs certainly the case with us. We're also entertained by the fact that u'e're excited about neu- gear. You can play three chords as long as you want, so longas some pedal or some attachment, some s i g n a l p a r h - m o d i f i c a t i o nu n i l . c n m e ' r l o n g l o keep it fresh.Itbecom€s a rather interesting e r c u r . i , ' n .n r : . t i r ' ; : r d t L | 1 | | n gr n d c h a n g i n g that which wds into that which could be. ow You and the brnd hrve beenso consistent rvith your style. Do l-ou ever have the desire to tr,v someth ing di fferent? clBBol|s Thc desire renrains. Bur 1s tir'e l e 5 . t o u f e r s ,w e d o n r h , r ! e r i - n e i o r i r . S u r e a vou can check in with your pals, check in u'ith = the newsstald that a1lplays a part in that elen1ent offreshness. You don't have to abandon history, but i!'s a goal ofours to stay one foot
ilr the blues and keep one eye on the horizon, ow Tell me abouttie currentcreative trajectory ofthe band? olBEOraS The new direction for ZZ Top i r r r o t. o n c w .\ r | r . u p p o r t , J b r u u r c n g i n e e r s .J o e H . r d y r n d C L . M o o n , w h o r e m , i n in-house and hands-on, and with a few select words their assistalce brings special skills to the part-v they keep even the nost fer fetched, far out ideas grounded. There are t h r e e m u s i c i a n st h a t g e t i n t h e b o x a n d t h r a s h it out, and with the help ofa tremendous staff we've become a s,ell oiled machite. The band joke, ofcourse, is that we all $,ant to play solo albums-butwe'd all have to hrve this samc band plal' on 'em, becausewe like thc way it
There must be sonethingyou seeon the horizon that tellsyou it's worth it to continue on with the brnd, and to continueplaying this styleofguitar. lndced.tror eveq, guy that saysthi[gs aregoingsouth, thereare rwo !hat areconvincedit's goingin the other direction.My discussiorwith Keith Richards aboutthe creativeprocessled me to believelhat there'san invisible presence ofa s!rcam ofever-flowing c r e e t r irD t l - r t r r e o r e r h e r r a l l r u u
haveto do rspull up lhe antennir rnJ dial it in. This presence alloil'syou to maintain your senseofo gin and nove forward.You cant stop it. The radio is piayingin my head all daylong ow What are )'our playinghabits,and what are you working on right now? OIBBOLS Our playinghabitsare never-elding;it's an onSoingprocess of experi entation. we've reacheda very levelof sophisticated tonal tweaking.That doesn'tmeenthat it's over.It just meansthat there'snothingl€ft but the next thing. ortl ZZ'top cut a lot ofits early recordings Studios.what do you recall atroutthe studio, and {-hat was it like recording there?
Fairchild and Pultec compressorsand equalizers- The room wasn't anlthing to breg about-just a squarebox, really-butwe all o
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ow What guitars and ampswere you usingback then? OIEBOIIS Just nry GibsonLes Paul and a's4 Hardtlil FenderStrat an old mapleneckthingthat I still havekickirg around some\rhere. I recallusingthat Straton "BlueJeanBlues,"and I had it goingboth through the arnp and direct into the board. You'llnoticeit's a very cleansoundon that song.we were actuallyjus! warmingup, and the engineersaid,"c€e,this is different, why dor't we explore that tone a little bit?" My alnpat the time was a 1969100-watt Marshall.Itwasn'ta plexi;it had a golclanodizedface,and I ran it into a 4x12 cabinet loadcd with Celestion greenbacks. ow what kinds ofslides were you using? GIEEO S Back then,I used to take Atlas mic slands and chop them up. Another thing I'd use sometimes wxs a lO-gauge metal shotgun shell. Thcy were made of solid brass, but rvith really thin walls, and they gave a sort of shofl, strccJtolikc
delivery,with less sustainthan yoLl get from a thicker brassslide. OW Canyou boasta little bit aboutyour high points? GIEEOIISA high point in my careerurculdhave to b€ discoveringthe liberationthe guitar affords, the tot abandonmentof playing. That is, you need to of integrity but realll' let it go. And in so doing aermlngs
able.The unpredictable natureol things lakes you to the next step up. If]'ou rnake a few mistakes, let itgo.It's part ofthe program.
OIEBOxS That was 30 years ago, and the equipment available at that time was tl
Neumannand micsand
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By BObgft Palmef )k Reprinred rrom 0utTtfi w0il.0, ssprember tss6 o [AtTEn WHAT you nay have heard or r-cad,nobody kno$'s lr-her.c the blucs bcgan-or even ifit riid be€iin in a pafticuiar place, as opposed to splinging up in several pleces trore or.less silrrultaneoush..The Miss i s s i p p i D e l t ai s o f t c n c r e d i t e d l v i t h l r e i n g t ] r e" c f a d l e o f r h e b 1 u e s ,b" u t tLere is evidence tlat the mus;c wrs flourishing in Texas at least as earlv as it was in Mississippi. When isked for lis opinion, pioneering blues and foik scholal Alan Lonlax sed to quote a traditional, anonvmous lvric hc h:rd encounlered earh. in his trivels: "The blues callre flom Texas, Ioping likc a rr'ru1e." lllues is bv n:rture sonetlirgofa gun1bo:pert licld holler, pirt g!itar r_igtilne and songstcr balladr\,, and part berrelh o u s eb o o g i e ,l v i t h a s € a s o n i n go f g o s p e l , j a z za n d e v e n h i l l bill"v music. In Texas, a big, big state $'ith a number of immi grant communities and small farnrers in addition to its large cotton plartations, early blues musicians rvere exposed to an unr.rsuallvbroad ralge of inlluences: mariachi bands and {lamenco inspiled guritaristsfr.orr trIexico; Ilcnch-speaking Caj n rnd Zi'deco bancls;tlTe polkas and other accor-dion-dr-iven dance music ofGerlnan and Easterr Europe:rn settlers; and a widespread jazz scene,\'ith sophisticated music hcard not onl)' in the cities blrt also in thc rural territofies, $'hcre it took tl,e fr)l lL ofold-rime lToedorrr mLrsic.To sonle
deglee, Texas blucs absorbed:rll these influences, and thc biues was itsclfn pr'ime ingredient in later'ltx:rs swles such as \Vestern swing, honk)' tonk and rockabilly. Texas'blues pedigree is uns u r p a s s c d ,a n d t h e L o n e S t a r Strte, alorgwith its bordering territofies (parts of Louisiana, Arkansrs and Oklehorna), plal'cd a folmrtive role in the developmert ofboogjewoogrej the pounding, rockiDg cightto thc bar rhlthmic fbunda tion fbr all subscq ent developmentsin rock and roll. The origirs ofboogie arc | , u n er s z r 6 generallv attributed to anony ous black pianistswho entertained \r'orkersin thc i s o l a t e d ,b r c k r v o o d s l u n r b e r a n d t u r p e n t i n e c a l r p s o f c a s t e r n T e x a s a n d w e s t e r - nL o u i s i , a n a ,p f o b r b h . a r o u n d t h e t u r n o f t h e c c n t u n r
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A traveling pianist and songrvriter fi om Neq' Orleans,ClarenceWilliams, reported hearing a Texaspianist playing boogie-woogiebassfigures in Houstonin 19ll, morethan 15years before the filst boogie-r-oogier-ecordings.(The Texaspianist ceorge Thomaswasthe p:rtriarchofa piano playing family that included earl,v recordingartistsHocieland Hersal Thomas and their sister,better known asthe classicbluessinger-andBonnie Raittidol-Sippie Wallace.In 1917or 1918,anotherpianist,Samm]'Price, heardbluesguitaristBlind Lemon Jeffersonplaying b ass-string boogie riffs. The term Jeffersonknew, however,was 'rboogerrooger,"which was somethinglike an all-weekend house party, r\-hatEast TexasCajunscalled jamr "la la."YoucanhearJefferson's ming,loose-limbed approachto the "booger-rooger"rhythm in the final chorusesof"EasyRiderBlues,"his versionofthe pre-WorldWar I Texas standard.As u'ith so nuch ofAncrican music'shistory, nobody knows for sure whether boogie-woogieu'as in vented by pianists and later adapted to the guitar, or the other rvayaround. However it went down, it probably went down in Texas.
IIIEFIRST GUITARISTS cuitars seemto have found their w a y i n t o t h e h a n d so f b l a c k m u s i c i a n s in Texas earlier than in other parts of the South. The longborder the state shares with Mexico mernt there was widespread contact with Spanish-speakingimmigrants, whose culture has cherished the gritar since the Moors brought prototypcs to Spain in the Middle Ages. Centuries later, back in Texas, the 6r'st wave ofblack guitarists u,e knorv about had already der.eloped their own style ard repertoire wellbefore the initial wave ofpopulafit-v for the blues. Huddie Led better, better known as Leadbelly, roamed the coulltfyside plaving I rolljngbass heav_vslvle ofl2-stringguitar (then a novelMexican im port) and si nging narrati\€ ballads, hoedorvn tunes and other dance music that pr€dnted the b l u e s ." T e x a s " H e n r y T h o m a s u a s a h o b o w h o ferociously str-urnmedhis guirar rvhile blor',i n g n n r s e t o l c a r r ep r n p i p r . r h r r r v r s r a c k rnoulted around his neck,like a hannonica. Thornas left an impressive body oflecoldings, including"Bull Doze Blues," from which Canned Heat derived their 1969 hit "coing Up the Countr]'." Oiall the Texas songsters (archet]'pal wando]-ing bluesmen except that they perforll]ed n1oreballads, breakdowns end ra€itime than blues), Mance Lipscomb was one ofthe longest lived and best 1oved.Unlike L e a d \ e l l t r r r J T h , , n - r . .h e g e n e r a l L s r a r e " in one spo! and farned rather thrn brave the jukc joints and barrelhouses, where murder and nayhem could be counted on to spice up most any Saturday night-
Duringthe first few decadesofthe 20th century bluesslorvl_v eclipsedthe old songster balladsand hoedorvntlrnesasthe rural darrce GUIITTTEGETOS
and entertainmentmLlsicofchoice.In nost ofthe South,therewere considerablesocial aswellasmusicalbarricrsseparatingblues musiciansfrom thosewho playedjazzor sang gospel.Bluesi('as"countr)',"associated with rlte"Jowrrrrd nrrr': j:zz mu.ici.rn.corrsid eredit musically moronic,andpiouschurchgoelsdeened it the der.il'smusic. Tere..nncergrir. did rhingsdrlielentll. Frontrhebcginning. l cra- hlue."rd jazzenjoyed a fruitfulrelationship,one thnt worked to the advantageofboth. Eventhe most unreconstructed,musicalll'primirivebluesmen, suchasthe influentialsingerTexasAlexander, often recordedwith a sympatheticjazzplayer or-tvo asfeaturedsoloists.Thejazz musicians,for their part,didn't sharetheir peers' disdainfor the blues;in f:rct,jazzbandsfrom Texasand Oklahomalargelybuilt their reputrtion playinglooselyarranged,rhllhmicalltr conpellingjunp blues.This wasastrue ofthe BlueDevils,Twentiesprecursorsofthe origi llal Count Basieband,asit r-as2o yearslaler, *-henHouston'sMilt larkin Orchestraintroduceda u,holcneu'generationofhonking, big-tonedTexassaxophonistsbluesmenall.
BffilltLEttt0lt tEFFERs0ll But\r'hen it comes to blues, Blind Lemon Jeffersonwas the most influential ar'tist Tetas produced until the post-World War II arrival o - < e m t n a te t e c l| ' | cg l l I J n 5 l t - E o n e w a t t e t
As early as1915,Jeffersonwas known aroundDallasand in the surroundingcountr'$ide asan itinerant streetsinger Begin. ning in 1926,he enjoyeda string of hit recordsthat continued, offand on, until his deathin l92q Nowadays,CharleyPatton, RobertJohnsonand other Mississippi Deltabluesmen arethe bestrememberedof Lemon'sn€arcontemporaries, but he wasarguablya more signilicant bluesartist than any ofthem. Accordingto blues historiaf SteveCalt,a Patton chan'rpionand bio$apher, Blind Lemon Jeffersonwas"as importantwithin the scheme ofblues asEh.isPresleyis to rock" and "the most famous malesbluessingerwho ever lived,rivalingBessieSmith for popularityamongrecordbuyers of his time." Many rural bluesmenhabitu ally drop a beat or a bar from, or add a halfbar or more to, the standard12-barverse,resulting in actualverselengthsranging from ll to 13|lnd a halfbars, often in the sane tune.On 6rst impression,Jefferson'splaying wff evenmore anarchicthat that while singing,he would strul11quiet chordsor softly mark the beat,but his guitar fills, generall,vtumbling singlenote linesinsertedbetrveen vocalverses,were liableto meanderalmostan)'!vhere.Calt de'cribe.rhe"efill. rs imp-omp(u-sounding riffs ofno frxedorder or duration."This edgeof-]'our-seatapproechto improvisationis whrt makesJeffersonclassicslike "Match Box Blues,""SeeThat My crave Is Kept Clean" and "That BlackSnakeMoan" perennially reu'ardingand surprising. In effect,Jeffersondevelopedand popularized_lerdgritrr' r. r .tyleofblue
ELEIITRI|! TflAS Texasmusicianstook to the electricguitar asmpidl,vand enthusiasticallyasthelrhad taker up the guitar itselfat the beginningof the centur_v. EddieDurham,a guitaristfrom SanMarcos,Texas,madehis first "amplified" guitar in the e l]. Thirties, usinga tin pan as a resonator.Soonhe had graduatedto homemadepickups,playingthroughradiosand phonogmphsand leavinga trailofburned-out appliancesbehind him. When DeArmond
on the highway), and the best-known,most influentialWestern swing pickers were guitaristsEldon Shamblin andsteelguitarist Leon C'Takeit away, Leon!') McAuliffe,both ofwhomwere featured with BobWills. Nobody who'sheardBobDunn's twistedsteellines comecascaotng out ofa charmingpieceof Milton Brown squaredancehokumcanforget the experience. The glly wasoneofakind,and his few recordingmust only hint at his weird genius, Afterworldwar Il, electricguitaisand g:uitarists continuedto proliferate,challenging andeventuallysupplantingthe saxophone asvernacularnusic's principalsoJovoice. quasi-freeIconoclastic, form bluesguitarists in the Blind Lemon tladition-Lightnin' llopKrns. ! ranKte Lee Sims,the BlackAce and others-pluggedin and rockedthejukejoints andtaverns,but the TBonewalkermodewas dominant,and in the
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cameout with its pioneeringgljtar pickup ir the Thirties,Durham was amongthefirst to useit. In l93z he met anothef_\7oung local guitarist,CharlieChristian,and they traded amplificationarcana. In parallelto rhe.ederelopments. arnpli quicklymade fiedguitar and1ap-steelguitar inroad.to rheWe.rernswingmusicscene, The moststrrtlingof theerrlyelectricsteelplele-s wasBobDunn, a featuredsoloistwitLMilton Brown andHis MusicalBrownies.Dunn played pedalsteellike a modernistleaningtrumpeter: isolatedburstsofnotes,darirg harrnonic choices,unprcdictablephrasingthat couldbe jaggedone minuteand flow like honeythe next. By the end ofthe Thirties,Milton Brcwn'sband hadbrokenup (followingtheleader'sd€ath
ties.For electricguitaristsJohnnyWinter, Jimmie and StevieRayVaughanand Doug Sahm,aswellas for acousticailymindedpickers Kewll|le L\etson ano towne(v!tt zanot, blueswas much more than a musicallanguage acquiredfrom obscurephonographrecords; it wasa languagethey sharedwith the form's mostlyblackcreators,often from early childhood.As a result,Texasguitaristsseemto havea genuine,deeplyrooted feel for the blues,whatevertheir color \ryhenStevieRay Vaughansoaredon ninor-key blueschanges, o r w h e nV a nZ a n d p r i c l sa n ds i n g .o n eo f h i s l0- and ll-bar originals,there canbe no doubt this i. theblues.u e shouldnr be surpfiseo from Bob Dunlto honky-tonk'sLefty Frizzell to rockabilly'ssleepyLaBee{Texasguitarists havebeenplayingandsingingidiomatic,naturtrl hl"pc
fnr opnpniinnc
8tGSrArE, E|GGER QUESI|0I|S
why is this sigrificant and substantial musical culture still relatively little known and underappreciated? Texaswas an incubator perhapsthe incubator for blues and boogie woogie at the beginningofthis cen tury, and later for electric blues,honky-tonk and important developmentsin country swing and rock. Yet we hear and read much more about the Delta, Robert Johnson and Muddy waters. In part, Delta blues has attracted fans and boosterswith its rawer and more in your face approach,which features aggressivelydriving, syncopatedcrossrhythms. And Delta music has a potent m)'stique hellhounds on your trail, the blues atd the devil walking side by side,selling your soulto the dark man at the crossroads. To somedegree,this mystiquewas calculated from the very beginning:early bluesmen producedan astonishing such asTommy Johnson,Son House and numberofin0uential, Muddy watersknew that invokinghoodoo not only playedto the beliefs and fears of wildly kjneticandcompetitiveleadguitartheir audiencein thejointsbut alsohelped ist/bluessingers.Evena them to craft an image.And it sold records. limited list would have Texashas its own brand ofhoodoo, and to includeiconicfigures it hasseepedinto tuneslike Hop wilson's odesto his babys bhck cdrbone.But the suchasClarence"catemouth" Bro\rvn, PeeWee deep,heavy,seriousmetaphysical baggage Cralton,FreddieKing, that comeswith so muchDeltabluesis rare in Texas,where blues is, aboveall, music for Albert Collins,Johnny e n r e r J i n m e narr r dd a n c i n go.r f o r c h r o n i Copeland,Lowell Fulson,CalGreen cling the ups and downs ofday-to-day expe(HankBallardandthe rience,asin the autobiographicalblues of Lightnin' Hopkins. Midnighters'a.{mln), Deltabluesi' a kindofsacredInus;c. op Clarencecarlow,RoyGainesandGoreeCarter (whose1949"RockAwhile"is a wofthy candi posedto the church but espousingits own datefor "lirst'everrock andmll record"),not African-rootedspiritualvalues.In Texas,on the other hand,bluestendsto be resolutel)', to mentionlegendarysessionguit istssuch rs wJlmebennenJnoLtd'enaeHo omanano unapologeticallysecular,sensuous, even lap steelplayilg bluesmenSoru1y Rhodesand carnal,likerock and roll. The bluesscholars Hop wilson. Most oftheseguitaristsfronted maynot all get it, but musiciansdo;there isn't rblues guitaristalivewho hasn'tpickedup bandswith a smallhorn sectionofsaxesand someLhing frornI BoneWalkeror oneof his brassrs well asthe standardpiallo,bassal1d .i urns.The clo.e connecrionberweenbldes disciples,just asnojazz guitaristfor decades hasremaineduntouchedby the innovations andjazzin Texaswasstillmuch in evidence. Anisr" J" rhe"eofrenpeffofmedl, ofCharlie Christian.AmongTexasguitarists, "uch cally,bringingtheir showsnot just to cities musicalstandardsareparticularlyhigh,which and townsbut alsoto rough,ruraldancehalls. is why youll findevenB.B.hing u orshipping This rich musicalenvironmenthad every.thing at T-Bone'sfeet.That Texesbluesjust keeps to do with the growth and developmentof loping along,butthese daysit's more like an youngermusicialscomingofageinthe Si^ expresstrain than a mule, i.
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continued from page 19 ingwith the Stones in the era when they were doing things like "wild Horses," "Dead Flowers" and "Country Honk." Along with that there was Poco, the Eagles..just a real fun,'let's be cowboys for a day'kind ofthing. "So not wantingto be left belind, we took measures to see if we could stay in step with the trend. Some fans were suryrised. But some ofthem rcmembcred thrt our second single, 'Shakin' YouI Tree,'had pedal steel on it. And one ofmy alltime frvolite country tingcd ZZ Top numbersis'Mexicen Blackbird' florr Fcndango, which is definitely a slidester's chewed-up version of rockneets countr)', inspired by that particular period." But what's interestirg is that there's a bit of Keefin Billy's country playing. The chordal voicings and edgv ci€an tones on both "It's Only Love" and "She's a H€artbreaker" o$,e a lot to Keith Richards' London take on the country idiom. ''()h, without a doubt," Billy admits. "The Stones have beell a benchmark for-so many aspiring rock musicians. Thel.'re trueblue interpreters of American music. Theytook up the blues and R&B at a time when it was by and lalge being dismissed at home. And they explored country music in the same wa\r Thev were pals \,r,ithsome of tirose California bands. And, y e s , l w o u l d s p e n dh o u r s u p o n hours stud)'i ng Ke ith's playing st_vleand his chord voicings. It took me a longtime to reftlize he pla,veda five-strj ng Telecaster in open c. Bo),,that was rbrand-new dayu.hen I figured that one outl"
IllE L0llG lllAIUS: ZZI0P ETPTORE TIIEGI.OBE
Sl-orrlrrftel rhe tlc-r.e oc Tcjd..ZZ fop dpcided itwas time for a break. They'd been touf inghard al]d hca\.t' since 1970,and the logisrical rigors ofthe Worldwide Texas Tour would'v€ beel enough to killlesser mcn. "Itstalted out that we were goingto take a 90 dayhiatus from public appearances,"Billy says."Thnt allow€d us to enjov a littlc getawa_v.f rank wcnt to Jarnaica,Dustvwentto Mexico, and I was offto Europe. well, three months became si^ months, \ahich bccame a year, which becanre t1,r,o)'€ars.We were still in touch, but it was kind ofa long-distance lor.e affair" Asked what brought him to Europe, Billy promptly answefs, "The first Fripp and Eno aibum, No P ssy/oofing." cibbons had become intrigued with the European art rock movement ofthe Seventies.Former KingCrimson guitarist Robert Fripp and Roxy Music vet
B r i : t r E n o h a d b ( , u r n ep a r r o l . r . c e n c r h . r r r l ' o i n c l u d e d p l a r e r s J i k v P i r k F l o y d a s s o Li ate Robert Wyatt and glltarists Ired Frith and Kevin A1'ers,pla,ving in bands like the Arr B€ars and Henry Cow' Itwas alLa mighry long !va), ftom Texas, but it did involve making noises with $ritars. So Bi1l1.wasdown. "cranted, during rhe Movil1gSidewalks days, u'e got to know Robert Wyatt ftom the Soft Machine," Billy says."Talk about heac, trip, way ouFthere art rock. And in the Seven t i e s t h e r e w a s a l o t o f t h a t s c e n eg o i l g o n i n England. And ifyou check out the liner notes r o . o r n e o l t - r o . ee a r l t f l i p p r n d E r o r e l e a : c . . the,ygo to $eat lengths to revealtheir studio s-vstem:'Youhave to go through al] echo unit here, then run the signal through this...'It beco es quite fascinatilltj, not only as an in sight to what they're doingj it also stimulares one's own curiosity:Wow, ifrhey can do thar, I w o n d e r i f I c a n d o t l i s . B u t s o m eo f t h e r e ally obtuse art r-ockwas coming out ofParis, trrance. So I spent some time there, too." Billl' also got interested in reggae music. The Jarnaican musicalidiom was nt a high point in the Seventies and very much a part
of rhe decrdr: _rlrerrarive lnLsicalZ.ir. geisr. Billy got to know both Bob Marlev and PeterTosh,spendingsomc tim€ in Trinidad with Mallel'. "Bob wes an intense kind ofguf'Billy says o l r h e r e g g a ei c o n : _ \ e l . e r o n d o i n g t h i n g q his way. He was a gl eat leader for that outfit lthe l dilers]. He had an ilcredible rh]thm sectionbehind him: ldrummerl Carly and lbl]ssistl AstonBafrett. Carlv Barretfs treatnent of the bentwas so unique. There isn't a tu'o or a fouf ii earlv regfiae.There was a nam€ given to thatbeat: "the one dlop." The reggae soLrnd comingout ofJen1aica in that[iorious pedod fion 1971 77 is to this davconsider€d the rear essenceofwhen reggae ruled."
fltEwABltER YEARS, PI|ASE 01tE (1979-8t): llEWSIYTES lll tllUSlG AIIO FACIAT IIAIR SorvhenZZ Top final1yreconvenedin 1979, Billy's musicalperspectivehad beel stretched in severalnew directions-Frank had picked up someJamaicaninfluenceaswell. It wasthe startofr new era for the group in manyrvays.
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They had alsoleft LondonRecordsand signed a dealwith WarnerBros. All theseparadigmshifts arereflected onthe band'sfirst albumfor their new label, uegueuo \.te/e).I nefersa grearerempnasrs on cleanchorusyg!itartoneschaneverbefore,and an arch senseofpostmodernirony in songslike "CheapSunglasses" and "Fool for Your Stockings."It all very much reflects the impactof new wave,the postpunkmusical stylethat rubbedshoulderswith artrock in (Eno had goneon to prothe late Seventies. duceDevoand the TalkingHeads;Fripp had formedthe Leagueofcentlemen with a trio of new wavemusicians.)In true DIY punk/new wavefashion,the membersofZZ Top even taughtthemselvesto play saxophonein order to add sone horn chartsto the disc. "one ofthe highestcomplimentsat the time,"Billy recalls,"camefrom the late rock critic LesterBangs,who saidthat'Cheap sunglasses' waschoser asa favoriteby someone wearingpurple hair who did not realize who they were listeningto.Thank you Lester, thank you purple hair,thank vou cheapsunglasses, tha[k you RayCharles." The cowboyhats all but disappeared ound this time. But therewas plenty on Degu€?lofor old-time fansto dig like the bluesy fave"I'm Bad,l'm Nationwide,"with its searinglead tones.The glitar soloin "she Loves My Automobile"quotesthe FreddieKing bluesinstr-urnental classic"The Stumble," popularizedby PeterGreenin John Mayall's Bluesbreakefs. A double entendrelyric to "she LovesMy Automobile"is very nuch rn the risqu6R&B styleoflorties greatLouis Jordan.ZZ Top had managedto reinvent thenselvesfor a new efawhile remaining firmly groundedin their bluesroots. Butjust to help smooththe way into this new era ofZZ Top,the bandunleashedthe greatestal1dmostprotractedPR stunt ofits career:the beards.While on hiatus,Billy and Dusty had gottenout ofthe habit ofshaving. Hangingwith the R|lstamen,Billy must hrve receivedextra encouragementtothrow away the razor And when they gotback together cibbons and Hill decidedto keepthe beard thinggoing.Despitehis name,FrankBeard reftrsedto participate-He doeshowever,sport the occasionalmoustacheand/or goatee. The ZZ Top beardsare rock'sgreatestMacCu'fin.A \4rcdl|fFn'. r cine-nrlictric\ inv€ntedby the greatdirectorAlfred Hitchcock. It's an objectthat capturesthe audience's attention(a mysteriousbox,which mayor may not containa bomb,for instrnce)while key plot developmentsare snuckpastthe viewer in order to preparea surpriseending, so hereZZ Top had apprecieblychangedtheir musicalstyleand signedi{ith a new iabel,but all anyonecould talk aboutwerethe beards. Pressfor the albumtendedto revolvearound beardjokes,beardeartools,funny fakebeards on peoplewho weren't in the band...From this moment forward,ZZ Top {'ould b€ "those glys with the beafds." And in growingthosewhiskers,they'd written themselvesan unlimited musical license.Theycould decideto becomea classicalstringtrio or atradjazz outfit andthe1"d stillbe "thoseglys {,ith the beards."As with
the WorldwideTexasTout they'dtakensome naturalaspectoftheir livesand found awayto put it to creativeuse. ZZ Tops nextalbum.E/ Lo.oi'l08l).conlinued in the vein ofDe8uello:clean,chorused/ phased/flanged guitar tonesand rampantdoubleenrendres. Youdon t haveto bea lit major to catchthe phallic referencesin "TubeSnake Boogieand_lfs SoHard. 'l WannaDrile YouHome,"couldbe an answersongto "She LovesMy Automobile."And "PearlNecklace" is their famouspoericeuphemism for fellario.
Gibbonshaseverylaid to tape,or any other recordingmedium,for that mafter.The album was createdat Ardent,the samestudiothat produced Fdnddngoand Tejds,and ZZ Top were doingexactlywhat they did on those albums: going cmzy with the gear they found in Ardent'sstoragerooms. 'nvhen we went back into Ardent after our hiatus,the storagevault for gearhad increased threefold,"Billy recalls.'i{nd the uncharted roomshad all this weird new stuff: new amps, studio gearand things with keyboards,but they had lnobs on them. LiLe,'That looks like a pianq but it sure ain't no piano!' Sothere was a trmely,unplannedand unexpectedcoupling of this unknown world of new geai u.ith what we knew.What we focusedon was making good, solid tempo the new champion ofthe groove." The reinventionofZZ Top reallykicked Meanwhile,Billy'sown vintageampcollection into high gearon zz Top'sthird WarnerBros. had incleasedexponentiall)'."l begancollectrelease,Elirnin.tfor(1983).The band'smost lngtneZj\lUlenoerDUalPrOleSSlOntu(. WenaO successfulalbumever,it is alsotheir most foundabunchofthem.Theywere18-wattamps, controversialrecordi[g.Sone longtimefans and like all vintagegear parlicularly tube amps werehorriliedby theirembrace ofsynthesizer liom the Fifties-eachoneI foundwasa little bit rnd d-um mrchinetechnology. nol (o men(ion differenttonally.we alsojustlovedthe sound their ascendancy Pros, on MTV the then-brandof FenderCbamps,H yards,Pdncetons, new mediumthat had becomethe domainof Bassmans,Trcmoluxes...And we said,nvhy reDuranDuran,MichaelJackso[and Mado[na. stricrit rojusto c?We ma1finda combirrarJon To this day Billy is loatheto talk aboutthe of a few ofthese ampsthat works.' " electronicelem€ntsof Elimindtor."My guitarHowever,this proveda logisticalnightmare collecting,screw counti[g buddiesdon'twant when it cameto mikingso many amps.Thus, anythingbuttube ampsand PearlyGates,"he Billy's infamous"amp cabin"cameinto being. says,r'isiblysquirmingin his chair "Insteadofliningup 10or 15amplifierswith But the controversyoverthe instrumentaa mic on eachone,"Billyexplains,"or having tiononElininalortendsto overloola mor( to movea mic eechtime we wantedto try a importantpoint the albumcontainssome diiferenramp.we hui)ta iquareof amp!r.. facingjnward,with one microphonein the ofthe bestsongsthe bandhaseverwritten "GimmieAll Your Lovin' " is perhapsthe middle.And we put a secold stackofamps on hookiest,most infectioustlil,Ig irl the entire top of those-al1different ones.The ideawas, ZZ Topcanon.Ir'snor that far removed. lyri Let's put everytype ofamp on there.As for the third row ofamps,we didn't i('antthem to caliyor melodically,from "It's Only Love,"a get too far from the mic, so they were put on highlight ofthe cowboyhat period.And, like it or noqrliminator classicslike "cimmie top, aimingdown.And sonebodysaid,'Looks AllYour Lovin,'" "Legs"and "SharpDressed like a little ol'cabin,'sowe namedit the amp Man" had an enormousimpacton the popular cabin.We had one ofeveryodd, previously culture ofthe early Eightiesand are the songs unusedamp in this structure,just to seewhat for which ZZ Top will mostlik€ly be rememwould happen.This wasan extremeexample beredin lo0 years. ofZZ Top learninghow to experimentwith differentthings." " 'Legs'wouldn't be 'Legs'unlessit had that But itwasn't all smallcomboampson drivingsynth bass,"DustyHill points out. "we wrote the songwith that in mird. We warted tliminator"."one of the greattonal combina it to be a big part ofthe song." tions,"Billy says,"is a 100-u'attMarshall, either singlecabinetor a strck of two, and a "I! was a brand-newday,in termsofhow recordswere made,"Billy adds.'Andguess sol:d-.rrre\o\ SuperBertle.The SuperBFarle what?we were listeningto and likingrecords doessomethingthat the Marshalldidn't, al1d madeusingthis new technolog).. Takeolle of viceversa.But conbined,the soundis really my favolireband'ar rhe(ime.Depeche Mode: rich.I m pre(tysurefhal Cinmie Al- Youthey were producingsomeofthe heavieststuff Lovin' ' and 'SharpDressedMan' enjoyedthat I ev€rheard.Somepeopledidn'tget it, but I combination. 'Another oddballamp we had wasa Legend tlinkthatwas a perceptualthillg. Youlool onstageand seea g1lysinging.And behind 50,a so-watt 2x12combonTadeby a company him there'sthreeguyswith blackboxes.But cdled LegendAmps.Ithad a raw wood cabi' where'sthe drums?Where'sthe guitarsand netwith a canegrill. Thatbecamea corner amps?Therewasan assumptionon the paft of stole amp onElimindfo,".That was part ofthe good." somethat the musiccouldn'tbeheaw without formula.Itconsistentlysounded youcrank\om( As for guitars,Billy says,"Pearlywasalways drur\ or guirJ-s.Burn_an. present,and there was a Dean guitar that early DepecheMode on abigsound system with somegiant subwoofers,and it's someof workedconsistently.Itwasa weird halfExplorthe heavieststuff ever" er,halfFlyingV Dean,but with a smallbody-It Thosewho focusundulyon the presence wasa tuningnightmare.Hours at a time.But of synthsand drum machinesontliminator it soundedrea1lygood.Besidesthat, therewas are alsooverlookingsomeof the most invenalwaysa FenderEsquire at hand. I've got two tive and downright nastyglitar work Billy F. favorites, a'51with a blackpickguardanda'56
IIEU|ARI|ERYE nS,P[SE IWO(1983-199D: ifiYS il0St
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with a white grard and biggerneck." The titleElimindtor comes from drag r-acing. It's a tern for the winningcar in a race, thc one that eliminates the competition. The Elimilator is so the nane ofan actual cat a heavily custonized earlyThirries coupe that Billy had created in tandem with a smallarmy ofautomotive chop artists. His passion for rvildll' customized gr,ritarsis equaled onl]. by his fascination with tweaked-out autolnotive customjobs. The Eliminator coupe is depicted on the covel oftheEliminator album and it be came a mrin protagonist in the se es ofvideo clips that the band created for the Elininator singles: "cimmie All Your Lovin'," "Sharp Dressed Man" and "Legs." It was the early days ofMTV The channel had been cr€ated in l98t around the concept ofsho*,ingnusic videos nonstop, all day long. There was a shortagc ofmaterial in those early years, and the clichds ofrock video hadn't beer irvented yet. ZZ Top were initially unsure ifthey should even enter this new lne, dium. As Billy has pointed out, they're hardly fa.hinn nodels But he haJ rI idel. Rrrher than mak€ the group the focus ofthe videc, clips, he decided to fillthem with the things he loves most: hot cars, bizarre custom guitars and sexv chicks-the main components ofthe male American dream. It r srn.c. l\e ZZ Top ! ideo. a|e all Ma.cuffins. They're lilled with e,ve-catching d i s tr r c t i o r . t h a t d l a r r l r e r r i o n : l $ r v i r o n the three aging rock and rollels rvho actualJy c r e a l c JI h r r n u \ i c .l r r h r r r e g a r d . l h e )d o t h e opposite ofwhat a music video is supposed to do: spotlight the artist. Ironically enough, it proved to be a wildly successful formula. "We decided,'why dont we letthe story t e L li t s e l f ? " ' s a y s D u s t y H i l l . ' A n d l e t ' s h a \ . e some girls in there to look at. we'llbe more observers and advice-givers or whatever.'l he girls were a real easy decision to nake. I didn't hear a ho'vote rn},.where," And so three grizzied sidewindefs who had been around sirce the drys oflo\€ beads and Nehru shirts found thernsclves prominent members ofthe new, Eighties pop pantheon, sharingthe limelight with prefty boy synth bands and singing, dalcingdisco divas. In keeping with the eternal generosity o f th e fieak circus called rock, the beafded misfits were acceptcd l\,ith open arms. tliminator went I0 tines Platinum. The t/imindror coupe morphed into a hot rod spacecraft on the c ovet of,lfterburner (1985). The sound offers the same blend of Eighties s_vnthsparkle rnd vintage midcenturtr guitu tone. Perhaps the trio was doing a lot ofcamping at the time. This was the atbum that gave the u'orld "SleepingBag," "Woke Up with Wood" ard "V€lcro Fl]'." It also con tained the onll' power ballad in the ZZ Top caron, "Rolrgh Boy." With cavemous, digitall_v detuned drums and layers ofvelvety synth chording, it was another huge hit for then: a slou' drnce fave, but also somehow believaore. Ho*, elsc can guy who hasn't shaved in eight ) e a r \ \ e J u c er l J d \ r h J n h ) o r f e r i n g h i n r s e l f u p as a "Rough Bo,v." "I don'tthinkwe lost arymale fans with that one," Hill sa).s,"but I lhink we gotalot more female fans. Women really liked'Rough Boy."'
Xecycler is the third and last ir the series that Billy calls ZZ Top's "-er" albums. Rccycler is perhaps too aptlv named. Synth-pop was dead as a doornail b1'1990,when the disc was released, and thetlimindtor formula, so fresh at 6rst, was startingto sound might_vstale. The band seemed to realize it- R€cJc/cr'snost successful track, "My Head's in Mississippi," harks back to the bluesygrind ofZZ Top's earlier days,lvhile also hinting at what was to come. The glitar track features another Billy custom $ritar, la Warpa, a surrealisticrlly contoured cross between an Explorer and a Strat, equipped with a single humbucker B i l l y h e a d h a d i n J e e db e c n i n \ 4 i s s i s : i p p i " duringthat period.In 1988,he'd collaborated $ i r h P ! f a m i d C u i l c r 5t o c r e r r e t h e M u d d ) wood, a guitar constructed from a rooftimber trken fromthe cabin in Mississippi where blu€s great Mudd),Watels hadbeen born. Once completed, the guitarwas presented b_v ZZ Top to the Delta Blues Museum in Clarks, dale, Mississippi, ar institution dedicated to the preservation ofblues traditions that the band had helped establish and contirue tr) support. At the dawn ofthe Nineties, there was every indication that the synth thingwas over. ZZ Top were ready to return to their roots.
THERGA/BiIG YEARS (1992-present): BEFUGE lt IllE
[0ilE0FEtuts
In1992, ZZ Top signed a new record deal *'ith RCA forwhatwas reported in the trade press to be a whoppir'great chunk ofmone]', a phenomenal deal even for those wild, craz,v. h i g l r f l 1 i n. B i l l C l i n t o u .d o r . c o mb u o b l r N i n e ties. Abonus for Dusty Hill was that RCA had been the label ofhis lumber-one rock and roll hero, Elvis Presley. "Yeah, that was the reason we si8ied wrth RaA.Ir had norhin rodo wirhrhemoneJ. Hilljoked at the time. ZZ Top's 6rst album for their new labelwas Antennd (I993), a stripped,down, lean-andnasty restatement ofthe core ZZ Top values: gl itt| blues and the sound ofsteel strings am, plified through vintag€ tubes. The title ofthe album paid homage to the lawless Texas radio stetiors that had inspired cibbons, Hill and Beard when they u,ere kids. R,riyfftmeen(1996) came next- Ittoo is a raw andbluesy outing,but as always, ail]y had a ferv t$,ists to add to the plot. "Duringthe recording of Rhythmcen," he explains, "broddcerl Rick Rubin had turned me on to one ofhis acrs called Barkmarket. Wow Justa scarvband. And the gr t players' favorite tuningwas do*.n to Cs ard B, so we began experimenting with really low tullings. R,l]thmcen is probably the best example ofZZ Top's foriyinto the superJow frequencies.It notonly changesthe u o 1 r o u p l a l h r r t r h e r { d v a n i n s t r u m c n lb e g i r . r o \ o u n d . T h e r e s a : r r n d r r d t u n i n g .b u r I h saysso? It's whateveryou cone up with." Billy's fascinrtion with collecting Afiican artifactsbegar around the time ofRfiyffimeen. This, too, is rellected on the disc: several tracks feature African t bal percussior instruments from Billy's collection, including massive log druns. Some ofthese currently reside in the 'rort rard of thr guit.r'i.r, Holh-u ood |e.i
dence, beautiful larvn sculptures that,like most African objefs dhrt, are ftrnctional as well"when we were ill the studio recording thc log drums," Billy says, "the engineer kept comingon thc talkback saying,'Is something broken in there? I keep hearingthis rrttle.'we checked the drum kit, the guitars al,Idamps, h u r f i n al l y u t | e : l i z e d r h e - o u n d w r . c o r n i D g from lhe logdruns. lnside we folrnd these bits ofrubber, shapeless chunks right from a rubber trec. Apparently they'd been put in there deliberatell', to create this buzz when you hit the drum. So those African tribesmen, they knew about distortion, lnanl" ZZ Top celebrated their 3Oth Anniversary in 1999 with XXX, another fine collection o f D e l ( a m u s ; r r g .a n d d o u b l e e n t e n d r e s .r h i s time rvith a hip hop influence thrown into the m i \ . T h e b r n d \ m o s r r e c e D rr c l . J r e i s M c r cdlero (20o3), a potent distillation ofall that is inroxicrting rbuur ZZ Top. Again.ra grain! backdrop ofdity guitars, Billy sings in a sepulchral croak that could peel the paint offof Tom Waits'barn. There's even a leering, leatll er-lungeJDLsl) Iunrbef. _Piece.Thedisc brings the boys back to La tr ronter:r-there's the occasional dash of marimba, concertina al1dlyrics en Espafrol-and the cover art rcplays the "ElimiDator" video as a Mexican Day ofthe Dead cartoon. Though drunk and longdeceased, the guy gets the girl and roars off dou-n the highway. On the roadside, three b o n y h a n d s f l a s hrl r e r i c t o r ) 5 i g r . L o . T r e s Hombres rock on,
P0STSGBIPI: BIGPtAllS MBIIIETUIURE A t r h e r i m eo f r h i s $ f i t i n g .B i l \ d i b h ^ n . is in the midst ofinstalling a recordingstudio in the ground level ofhis Holl''wood place. At r h e r i m e I v i ( i ( e d h i ' n . l h e p r o j e c r r ' o rp e | h a p s B i l 1 1s n a r r i a g e ) w a . a r a \ r r g e r h i r n e c e \ \ i tated that he camp out on thebarren, exposedbrick ground Jevel ofthe house rather than sleep in any ofthe beautifully appoit'rted rooms upstairs. And so a mattress lay in the middic ofthe floor, with the strange paraphernalia of Billy's unorthodox lifest'4e stre{,n around it in every'direction. Therc were vinylrecords, CDs, high-tech conrputer gear, phone equjpment, teddy bears, ketchup bottles, mailingtubes, sundrv stationerv items, cardboard boxes, boon boxes and, ofcourse, g!itar gear ofevcry descfiption. lt looked like an adolescentboy's messy bedroon or some kind ofhippie squat. Leadingthe wa]' through the rubbl€, Billy o u t l i n e dh i : p h n s f o r r h e p l a c e .H i s rr r rc nr i , , n is to configue it identically to Foam Box in Houston, matchingthe gear and room acoustics as closely as possible. Doirgthis will make it easy for Billyto move his musical projects from place to place, following the ramblings of his peripatetic lnode ofexistence. Among the projects he is planning are a solo album, an EP with his pal Keith Richards and a disc ofZZ Top classics as performed b)' the band loday. will any ofthese recordings cver see the light ofday? with Bill)' n cibbons, there's no way oftelling. That's another one ofthe rules. But it's nice to knou. that his hyperactive, uniquel,v creative bruin shou.s ro sign ofslorv-
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-8-1O
Bass plats Bass Fig.1(see bar 54)
Basspldls Bass FiE. 3 three times (see bar 5l )
ldde out Gtr. 2 plals Ri.ffA (seebar 51)
1 0- 1 0
'| '|1
1 0- 1 0
Boss pla\s Bass Fi8..l (see bar 54) CUITAR LECENDS
83
,{s heardon TRES HOMBRES (wARNER BRos.) Wordsand Music by Billy F. cibbons, Dusty Hill and Frank Bear.d . ?)dnscribedby Andy Aledort
ffi
trFFF
@ Iot"o 1o,oo1 ModeratelyFastShum" J = feO t J-l Grr l(ele(. i.""r "io-"
FFFFF 6i
ffi3r
= |
FFFII] 3fi
FFFI+
FFFFF
t\r
A5 ; hdtnqers 1r/Pnk
lel A stttug rihe
r;r.!
tr- 4"""-
----a-----'. :-----f t-
Eht verse lo:09) sFeadin' lound Justlel me know A5
Therumor's
in lhal
Texas lown go il youwanna (c5) (Ds)A5
Srbstitute Rhy.FiU 1 secondtine (seebar9)
'bout thal Snac{ outside to lhal nome 0ul (c5) (05)A5
-A-4
gota lotta They
An' nEe
youknowwhat l'mhlkin'about girls ah (c5) (Ds)A5
LA Grange the rcnge (c5) (05)A5
7-4.-r_<-<
(035)
A5 Ctrs. 1 and 2 (both Vdisr.)
't3
:-:"""-a'T:-
7
1
Bassplars Bass Fig. I fow tines
Aarr aas. 1 (0f5,0i47)
A5
84 GUITAR LECENDS
"[A GRAIIGE (2.)Uh heh (3.)Uh hor{
Havemercy
how how
how how
how UhvrellI
(c5) (D5)A5
@ 2nd v"""" uh heh hear it's line (c5) (D5)A5
10,+11
18
Bass plats Bass Fi8. I seven and one hatftines (see previous paee)
il you've got uh mosl every
(c5)
the time night (D5)As
and but (c5) nna -- 1
22
ll' yourcelf in mish*en ina
26
-
qel
nng ---1
AndI
hear il's tighl Uh hmm
rina
to miqht
ll2' uh hmm hmm
(cs)(Ds)A5
E
lhe len now I {D5)A5
hmm
hmm
(c5) (Ds)A5 -
Guitar Solo (1r1)
Clr.3
Have mercy ^-
Bas ptals Bas Fis. 2fifreea tiaes (see below)
Ctrs. 1 ond 2 play Rhy. Fis. 2 thifteen times (see bar 31)
B a s sF i s . 2 1 1 1 1 )
c5
GUITAR LEGENDS
85
"1AGRAIIGE"
4:l: *
*
3*
86 curTAR LEGENDS
I
l,,'.,..,..,^---
I
-r-------:--
"[A GRAIIGE E Interlude(r:ss)
c5 61
Ebs
F5
N.C.(As/G)
{D/F*)
l . t n n g- - - - - - -
l e ti n g
Gr.3
--------------.
rtl
LJ
]
LJ-----J
LJ_____J
LJ-----r
(2:11) Gtr. I (disl. ofi) pick and frnBers
t e rn n g - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - .
1t..2.
t:
(c5)(Ds) As
A5 Grs. I and 2 (borbw/disl.)
Bassplars Bass Fig.3 ufltilfa!]e (seenen page) GUITARLEGENDS 87
"[A GRA]IGE" E Outro cuitar Solo (2:2s) {c5) (D5)A5
(D5) A5
(c5)
(D5)As
(c5)
(D5)A5
Gtrs. 1 dh1l2 pla,
(C5) {05)A5
Rht. FiS. I until.fade (see bb 19) P.H. or slisht P-H- rhioughonlDntil bd 114
(c5)
(D5)A5
(cs)
(D5)A5
DF{
(c5)
(c5)
(Ds)As
(cs) (Ds)As
(D5) A5
(c5)
Bdss Fi8.3
A5
88 CUITAR LEcENDS
(D5)A5
\2:22)
"[A GRAIIGE (c5)
(05)45
tt
(c5)
{D5)A5
ll
begin fade
(c5)
(05)A5
(cs)
l3:1s)
(05)As no P.H. until bd lr9
(c5) (Ds)As
(Ds)As
{c5)
(D5)A5
{c5)
(c5)
iDs)A5
(cs) (Ds)A5
(cs)
{D5)A5
(cs)
(05)45
GUITARLEGENDS 89
As fiedrdon FAIVDAIVGO! (wARNER BRos.) words and Music by Billy F. cibbons, Dusty Hill and trYank Beard . Trdnscribedby JefiPerrin
All guitars are in open G6 tuning (low to high: D G D G B E). D9 fFFFF I ft
FFFFF
E
5ir
IIIE I::E
ffi.".ffi'" ffi""
c{5 fFFII
D5 fi
D5
ffi':fr
ffi,ft
FFFH
G*5
A5
fFFFtr6ft mr.r FFFFF FFI+F
A{5 fFFFF 3fI
FFFFF
fiffn
Intro (o:oo) Moderately Fast Shume
) =ut
*G5
N.C.(G5)
*Ctrs. I dd 2 (elec./dist.)
Gtr. 1(elec. w/dist.) P.M.,P.M.-P.M.
^,-
P,M.
+GtL 2 dotules GtL I sinile thrcuehout. **Chon1 srnbols t.Jlect overcll hamony
Rhy.Fill 1---P.M,
ttl
l. I've beenup Gtr. 3 playt Rhr. Fill I thrce tines (seebar 3) Gt6. I and 2 P.M.
-
FiU 2 \11341 Ctr.5 whlide
9 0 G U I T A RL E G E N D S
P.M.
"TUSH" (o:10, o:30, 1:2e) (1.) I've beendown (2.) I've boengood (3.) waybackhome
@ V*"*
Takemyword oallas Texas Not by myselt
my waylound ) Hollywood I not alone ) Gtt. 5 plals Fill2 thit.l tih.
and2 7
Gtr. 3 plays Rh!. Fill l.fou P.M. P.M.
tines (see bat 3) ,-
ain'taskin' 11
P.M.
lighrP.M.
P.M.
P.M,
for much P.M.
Hmm P,M,
Jrd tine,
takeme downtown
P.M,
^*
I P.M.
P.M.
skip ahead to @
I'm iusl lookin' for somelush!
2.l'vebeenbad D9(no3)
Gtr. I substitutes Rhy. FilL 3 thir.l time (see betow) Gt. 5 plaw Fill I secon.ltime Gt- 4 plals Rh!. Fill2
(see beloe)
*Note ih par.nt he sis ptale.t
14
14
16
16-
(0:28,0:48, 1:28)
saidLord
Jirn
dhe onry.
12-12-14-1410-lo-10-10-
FiU I
10:461
E b 9D 9 Gt.
I
P.M.
*
GUITAR LECENDS
9I
"TUSH" p
Goitr.Soto
to,sol
GSs 19
A5
A{5
vsti.te
Bass plats
t_lJ_J
Bass Fig. I (see bar 7)
t_l_lJ
Bass substitutes Bass Fill I (see belo||)
c5 c*5 D5
Gl5
A{5
Gtrs. 1,2 aad 3 repeat Rh!. Fie. I sinile (see bat 19) 31
re'nng-----_----------,-
LJ-J
LJ
I
Bass plars Bass Fig. I (see barT)
Bass substitutes Bdss Fi
aarr l.tll l
92 GUITARLEGENDS
(0:55, 1r5,1;s8)
l (see belo||)
"TUSH" so back to @ ve6e
3.Takemeback
cs cs5D5
c5
D5
Gtt.4plars Rh!. Fill2 (see2ndpase)
E Outro cuitar Solo (i:49) G5
@ t,,+el Gtls.2 anl3 pla! Rhy. FiU I
Ctts. ),2 and 3 pla, Rht. Fis. I sinile (see bar 19)
43 Gtr. 5
Ba\
D!a$ Bass F t 2 tsee beto||,
G{5
Crr. 5 47
A5
tstidp par rh. h'Bhe! potnt otthe firyerboad. Bassplats Aass FiB. I tsee bar 7)
A{5
Boss subslitutes Bdss Fill I (see prcyious pose)
05
54 Glr.5
Rh!. FiU4
llAa)
CUITAR LEGENDS 93
As hedrdon ELIMINATOR (wARNER BRos.) Wordsand Music by Billy F. Cibbons, Dusty Hill and Fratrk Beard . ?rdnscribedby Dale Turner and Andy Aledort
Gtrs. 1, 2 and 4 are in standard tuning. Gtr. 3 (slide)is in open E tuning (low to high: E B E G$ B E). c5
Bbs
F5
m FFFIF
m
G5 ffi
m
ffi
G5
Cm7
Fm7
ffi,"
ffi-.
iffi."
E] Intro (o:oo) Moderately J = D5 (c5) \|/pick and fnsen PM.
1
+Th
throuEhout
P.M.> >
P.M_1
,
T}
PM l*
(play 5 times)
Tt' Th
* Fr.t botton stnn Vt huhb. e
SubstituteRass FiS. I foufth time (see below)
EVerses (0:23,0:54,2:26) l. Clean shid 2. Gold walch 3. Top coat
c5
New shoes Diamond dnq andtop hat
AndI don'tknowwhere I am goin' to I ainl missin'not a single thing 'cause AndI don'tworry my wallel'slat Bb5
5 Grr.2
BassFig. 2
end BassFig.2
ttttrtl
94 GUITARLEGENDS
IIRESSEII ]UIAII" "SHARP sitk sull Cufl links Black sna0es
(Black Black tie tie) Slick pin White gloves
I don'l needa rcason why Whon I slepout I'm gonna do you in Lookin'sharp and lookin' for love
Bass rcpeats Bass Fis.2 (see
They come runnin'justas
laslas theycan
'Cause every girl's
3rd time, skip ahead to E Outro Guitar Solo
crbzy
'bouls sharp dressed man
GtL 2 substitutes Rh!. Fill I on 3nl Verse (see beto'|)
Gtt. 1 plars Fill I on IstVene (see betow) Gtr- 3 plals Fill2 on hd verse (see beto||) Gtt. 1 pldls Fill3 on 3d Verse (see beLow)
13 cLrz
t.
s o b a c Ao @ Gtr. 2 plals
versel
Rb,. Fis. I t||ice (see bal 3)
17 ctr.1
(repeat prerious
two bars)
Th Th Th Bass plats Bdst Fig. I (see prcrious paSe)
12. @ cuit"" soto 1r,rzy c5 Gtr.2 plals Rh!. Fie.2 flin.t.eh tines (see h.lov) Gtr. 3
21
fry.^trte:
whtide
*repeat prerious Ba\s pla$
Ctf.
I
Bdtt
chord
Fie. 3 nh?t?"n
trne:
tstt
bcluwl
Fill2 11:15) Ctr. 3 (elec.w/disr.)
fneersttle: Vslide
Aarr frg. J (117,2:49,3:35,3:sl 4:06)
(c5)
Rh!.Fill 112141) F5 G5 G5
Bbs C5
rake
GUITAR LECENDS
IIRESSEII MA]I" "SIIARP tetnnS----1
kt
-11-fi-11-11---
ng------,-_
Gtr. 2
(1 55) Ctr. l let ins
tetnng-----------1
1-t-1-1
Ctr. 2
l_l_lJ 96
| |
CUITAR LEGENDS
|
_
!/
lzt tikg- ----1
41
btnnE
lel rinA,
_
G1r. I
IIRESSEII MAII" "SHARP G5 't-1-1-1_(
tttttl l2:11)
3rd time, so backto@ve^e
(c5) 49
Gtr. 2 plals at. I
Rhy- Fig. I four times (see bar 3) .
Th rh Bass plays Bdss Fill I (see below)
D
PM ;*
(ptar 3 tines)
Th Th Th Th Th Bassplats Bass FiB. I secot.l tine (see ln pase)
outro cuitar Solo (2:4e) Cm7 Gtr. 2 plars Rht. FiB. I nine and ote halftines (see ba.3)
Gtr. 4 plqrs Rhr. FiE. 3 hihe tines (se. belo\|) s l i g h iP . H .- - - - - - , , , , , , , - - -
Clr. I
,
10t12
Rll. rtg. J (253) Cm7
(c5)
Cu 4 (ele. vftChtdisr.)
GUITAR LECENDS
97
IIRESSEII IIIAII" "SHARP Gtr.2 plars Rb). Fill2
(see beto||)
\3:21) FrnT Ctr. I Gtr.4 plays Rhy. FiB.4a twice (see below)
Bdss tllays Bass FiE.4Jour tines (see below)
Cm7
n
Gtr. 2 plols Gtr. I
Rh!. Fig. 1 one and one h4A iftes
(see bar 3): Ct.
I pldls
Rhy. FiB. 3 twice (see previous pase)
Gtt. 2 plars Rht. Fill2 (see belo||)
tm/ GtL 2 plals Rhy.Fis.4 (seebar 73):Grr.4 plals Rh!. Fig.4a twice (seebelo||)
Cm7 Gi.
2 plays Rh!. Fig. I one at l one half tines (see bar J): Gtr. I plays Rh!. Fig. 3 rwi.e (see p.erious paSe)
tJ besinfade
GtL 2 plats
(see belo||)
Rb,. Fill2
L_I-I-J
13:58)
g9 Gtr.2 plqs Rh!. Fis.l (seebar73): Gtr.4 plays Rhy.Fi8.4a t'|ice (seebelo||)
Cm7 Gtr. 2 plays Rhr. FiB. I tuice (see bat3); Gtt.4 plars Rhr. Fie.3 twice (see prerious paee)
Rht. Fill 2 {3t25,3:41,3:56)
c1r.2 (c5)
(F5)
R h!. F i g. 4a \3:27, 3:43.3158) ctr.4 Fm7
,z$ ata. 4 (3:27,3:43,3i58) (Fm7)
-
tt------
B+,-i-L= L-]_IJ
98 GUITAR LEGENDS
--ii
L-I-LJ
n
